Liteiny Bridge (Emperor Alexander II Bridge). Foundry bridge. History and mystical legends
Liteiny Bridge is the second permanent bridge built in St. Petersburg, it connects Liteiny Prospekt with Akademika Lebedev Street on the Vyborg side (the Blagoveshchenskaya crossing was built earlier). During the construction of the Liteiny Bridge, many engineering innovations of that time were used. So, for the first time, electricity was used to illuminate its spans, and steel was used instead of cast iron for load-bearing structures.
From the history
Even before the founding of St. Petersburg, there was a crossing at this place connecting the left bank of the Neva, where the Novgorod road ended, with the right, where the path to Vyborg began.
In 1786, a floating Voskresensky bridge was built in the alignment of Voskresensky Prospekt. Later it was moved downstream, calling it Petersburg (now it is the Trinity Bridge), and another floating crossing was built instead, which served for about 50 years.
After the Foundry Yard was dismantled in 1849 and Foundry Avenue was extended to the Neva, the floating Voskresensky Bridge was transferred to it, which was renamed Foundry.
Permanent Foundry Bridge
In April 1865, after a stormy ice drift, the floating crossing was disrupted. A special expert commission decided to build a permanent crossing on the site of one of the two existing floating bridges - Liteiny or Petersburg. This issue was submitted to a meeting of the City Duma in 1869, and as a result of a majority vote, it was decided to build a permanent crossing between Liteiny Prospekt and the Vyborg side.
After the competition was announced, 17 projects were submitted to the Commission, including several foreign ones. On December 11, 1872, an English company was declared the winner, presenting an architectural project called "Westminster", providing for the creation of an arched four-span bridge with two drawbridges off the coast.
At the same time, the Ministry of Railways did not agree with this choice and created its own commission, which gave preference to the work of engineer-colonel Amand Yegorovich Struve.
The project developed by A.E. Struve with an assistant, military engineer A.A. Weiss, provided for the construction of a crossing with six spans and a rotary wing near the left bank of the Neva. Despite the fact that high-quality metal was being produced in Russia by that time, the contract indicated the purchase of iron from England or Germany for farms and the upper span. In accordance with the contract, the work was planned to be completed in four years.
Construction of the Liteiny Bridge
In the spring of 1875, the pontoon bridge was built for the last time, and on August 30 of the same year, the first stone of the structure was laid. Construction lasted four years and one month and was fraught with great difficulties.
In this place, the Neva has the greatest depth - up to 20-24 meters, and the bottom of the river is covered with a deep layer of silty clay.
Caissons were used as foundations for the supports of all the piers of the bridge, and their dimensions exceeded all previously used in Russia. For example, the size of the caisson for the support of the draw span was 36.02 by 15.61 meters.
For reference: A caisson (from the French word caisson, which means a box) is a structure for creating a working chamber free of water under water or in water-saturated soil. Usually, the caisson sinks into the ground under water due to its own weight and the weight of the supercaisson structure as the soil is excavated.
Several fatal accidents occurred during construction. In September 1876, due to a sharp subsidence of the soil, water entered the caisson, which was at a depth. Of the 28 workers, 18 people managed to get out immediately, five people were rescued, and five workers died.
A year later, an explosion occurred in one of the caissons, as a result, its roof was destroyed and the silty soil flooded it. The explosion killed 9 people, and another 20 workers sank.
Elimination of the consequences of these accidents increased the construction time and required the attraction of additional funds.
On September 30, 1879, the solemn opening of the bridge took place, named Alexandrovsky in honor of the then ruling Emperor Alexander II. All participants in the construction received awards, and Amanda Struve was promoted to the rank of major general.
Description of the Foundry Bridge
The layout of the wing was carried out using the so-called gate, driven by eight workers. Later, the gate was replaced with a water turbine, while the passage for ships opened after 20 minutes. It was the only bridge in St. Petersburg with such a draw span system.
The structure had railings of two types:
- Forged metal with a simple pattern for a draw span, they were light and "transparent"
- In the rest of the building, highly artistic castings were used, made according to the drawings of the architect Karl Rachau. In the center of each section there is a shield crowned with a crossed scepter, sea and river anchors (this is the coat of arms of St. Petersburg). The shield is in the hands of two mermaids, whose tails are woven into an intricate floral ornament. A total of 546 such sections were installed on the non-adjustable part of the structure.
The construction cost 5.1 million rubles, which turned out to be one and a half times more than the estimated cost. The width of the crossing is 24.5 meters, the width of the draw span is 19.8 meters.
During the construction, the following innovations were used:
- The use of steel for supporting structures instead of cast iron, which made it possible to increase the spans of arches by one and a half times
- Use of a more advanced rotary adjustable mechanism
- For the first time, electric lights were used to illuminate the spans.
In 1917, the crossing was returned to its historical name - Liteiny Bridge.
Reconstruction
In 1964, the reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic Canal was completed, which required more convenient communication along the Neva. It was also necessary to rebuild the Liteiny Bridge to meet the new shipping conditions.
The project of the renovated bridge was developed in 1963-1964 by a group of engineers from the Lengiprotransmost Institute under the leadership of L.A. Vildgrude, the architect of the building was Yu.I. Tit. Construction was carried out from 1966 to 1967 under the guidance of engineer Yuri Kozhukhovsky.
In the process of reconstruction, the upper parts of the supports were rebuilt and new metal superstructures were installed. The pivoting draw span has been replaced with a drop-down one and moved closer to the center.
Main characteristics
- The renovated Foundry Bridge has become 10 meters wider: its width between the railings is 34 meters, including the roadway - 28 meters and sidewalks - 3 meters on each side
- Number of spans - 6
- The weight of the movable span is 3225 tons; when raising it, it rises at an angle of 67 degrees in two minutes
- The size of the draw span - 50 meters
- The total length of the structure is 405.6 meters, without interchange tunnels - 396 meters.
The railings of the five bays remained the same, and replicas of the old light alloy railings were cast for the draw section. New lanterns were installed, designed in accordance with the pattern of the fence.
Footpaths are equipped along the embankment under the bridge, granite slopes to the Neva are arranged, and two-level transport interchanges are built on the approaches to the bridge
In addition, a huge bull was removed from the drawbridge, on which the old structure relied, as a result, the Foundry Bridge began to look more harmonious. In 1990, the old railing of the bridge was included in the State List of Monuments of Urban Planning and Architecture of Local Importance.
Foundry bridge
Foundry bridge
The bridge connects Liteiny Prospekt with Akademika Lebedev Street on the Vyborg side. The length of the bridge is 396 m, width - 34 m. The name of the bridge comes from the Foundry Yard, founded on the left bank in 1711. In the area of the bridge, the Neva has the greatest depth - 24 m.
In 1786, a second floating pontoon bridge was built across the Neva from Voskresensky Prospekt (now Chernyshevsky) to the Vyborg side. The bridge was named Resurrection. In 1803, this bridge was placed opposite the Summer Garden, and it became known as the Petersburg. Instead, a new floating bridge was built against Voskresensky Prospekt, which was built until 1849. Then, as a result of the dismantling of the Foundry Yard, a continuous highway was laid on the Neva embankment - Liteiny Prospekt, which connected the city center with the Vyborg side. Therefore, the Voskresensky Bridge was transferred to the highway along the axis of Liteiny Prospekt and became known as Liteiny.
The Foundry Bridge was built until 1875, when the construction of the permanent Foundry Bridge began. The floating bridge was returned to its original route and was again called Voskresensky. After the construction of a permanent bridge, the floating Voskresensky Bridge was dismantled.
The reason for the construction of a second permanent bridge across the Neva was the failure of the ice drift on April 4, 1865, a floating crossing near Liteiny Prospekt. To manage the design and construction of the bridge, a special expert commission was created, which, among others, included three prominent St. Petersburg architects: V. A. Lvov, Ts. K. Kavos, N. L. Benois.
On April 22, 1871, a competition was announced for the project of the Foundry Bridge, and on December 11, 1872, the commission made a decision to award the first prize to the project under the motto "Westminster", completed by an English company. However, the Special Commission of the Ministry of Railways, considering it, made a number of comments, which resulted in the rejection of this project. A new commission was created, which decided to build a bridge according to the project of engineer-colonel A.E. Struve (one of the members of this commission) and engineer-captain A.A. Weiss. Struve suggested building a bridge from English and German metal, although high-quality metal was being smelted in Russia by that time.
The laying of the new bridge took place on August 30, 1875. A.E. Struve supervised the construction work, he was assisted by engineers Vratnovsky, Batorsky, Mazing and Albert. The construction was accompanied by dramatic events - on September 16, 1876, due to the sharp subsidence of the support, semi-liquid soil burst into the caisson, killing five people, and on September 9, 1877, during the construction of foundations for river supports, an explosion occurred in the caisson: nine people were killed. Here it is necessary to explain what the caisson was, which was first used in Russia precisely at this construction site. The caisson is a huge metal box turned upside down and lowered to the bottom of the river.
Air is pumped inside it, “squeezing out” the water and allowing the development of the bottom soil for the construction of the foundation of the bridge support. As the soil is taken out from under the caisson, a stone support base is built above it, under the weight of which the caisson falls down. Workers descend into the caisson through a special chamber. Through it, the developed soil is transported outside in containers. This work is not only difficult, but also very dangerous.
The cost of construction amounted to 5100 thousand rubles, which is one and a half times higher than the estimated cost.
All participants in the construction received awards, and Struve was awarded the rank of major general. The bridge was named Alexandrovsky in honor of Emperor Alexander II, but the name did not take root.
The mass of metal spans was 5902 tons.
Five spans of the Liteiny Bridge were covered with arched riveted metal spans, and the sixth draw span, located near the left bank, was covered with a swivel lattice metal truss. During wiring, it rotated on a vertical axis located on the first wide and massive bull (river support). The layout of the bridge for the passage of ships was carried out using the simplest device - a gate, driven by eight workers.
Over time, the gate was replaced by a 36 hp water turbine. with., fed from the city water supply. It was the only bridge with such a draw span system.
The bridge was fenced with railings of two types. Forged metal, simple pattern, light and "transparent" were installed on the draw span, the rest of the length - heavy cast iron sections between the same cast iron posts, cast at the Kahuna plant. These elements of the railing were highly artistic castings according to the drawing of the architect K. K. Rakhau. He depicted in the center of the section a cartouche - a shield with the coat of arms of the city - a crossed scepter, sea and river anchors in the hands of two mermaids, whose tails are compositionally woven into a figured floral ornament in the form of spiral shoots. At the cast-iron columns, the gaps between the side planes are filled with fantastic marine animals, rapidly descending into the watery depths.
Grating of the Foundry Bridge
The Liteiny Bridge was the first and for a long time the only one among St. Petersburg bridges, illuminated by electric lamps. In 1878, the Association of Electrical Lighting P. N. Yablochkov-Inventor and Co. was established in St. Petersburg.
The purpose of the Partnership was to illuminate the St. Petersburg highways with the recently invented "Yablochkov candle". However, this progressive direction in the life of Petersburgers was hampered by capitalist relations that existed in Russian society (it turns out that capitalism is a regressive phenomenon).
The monopoly on the lighting of city highways was owned by private companies that provided services to the townspeople in the form of gas and oil lamps, fuming, spraying all sorts of muck and barely illuminating the space. The agreement between the city authorities and private firms that provided such services to the townspeople was long-term, and St. Petersburg residents could not use the invention of their brilliant countryman for a long time. The foundry bridge was an exception in this respect. By the time of its construction, the lighting companies had not concluded an agreement for its lighting, and thus the Partnership freely concluded an agreement with the city authorities for its lighting with electric lamps.
During the Blockade, a German aerial bomb hit the span of the bridge and pierced it, but did not explode.
In 1964, traffic began along the renewed deep water Volga-Baltic Canal. However, the width of the drawbridge span (19.8 m) limited the freedom of navigation in the new conditions. The intensity of traffic was much higher than expected. The layout of the bridge, carried out by a hydraulic turbine, lasted as much as 20 minutes. All this led to a complete reconstruction of the bridge, the expansion of the carriageway and the creation of interchanges along both banks at different levels to eliminate cross flows.
The reconstruction project was developed by engineers L. A. Vildgrube, N. D. Shipov, K. P. Klochkov and architect Yu. I. Sinitsa. The design was carried out in 1963–1964. The construction was carried out under the guidance of engineer Yu. R. Kozhukhovsky. In 1967 the bridge was commissioned. Metal buildings replaced it. The pivoting draw span was replaced by a drop span and moved to the deeper part of the channel. It increased to 50 m. When deployed, it rises at an angle of 67 degrees, and from Liteiny Prospekt it seems that a vertical wall has appeared in front of the viewer.
The width of the bridge deck has increased by 10 m, making three-lane traffic possible. The reconstruction changed the appearance of the bridge - a huge bull disappeared near the bank abutment, which served as the basis for the rotation of the adjustable part and introduced disharmony into the silhouette of the bridge. Now its silhouette has acquired smooth outlines, and the drawbridge does not stand out among other spans.
The railings that were on the bridge before the reconstruction were preserved, and for the draw span, the sections were cast from light alloy.
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St. Petersburg is a mystical city. Perhaps because it is built on water. And water, as you know, is one of the most mysterious elements. About 350 bridges were built across the St. Petersburg rivers and canals. Many of them are masterpieces of bridge architecture.
Each bridge, of course, is unique and attracts attention with its style, architectural design, and, finally, its history. But there are special bridges in St. Petersburg, for example Casting recently celebrated its 130th anniversary. It is considered one of the most mystical places of the former capital of the Russian Empire.
Legend of Atakana
The Liteiny Bridge connects the two banks of the Neva and is located in the alignment of Liteiny Prospekt and Akademika Lebedev Street, and its name comes from the Liteiny Dvor, founded on the left bank in 1711.
An international competition was launched for the bridge project, which eventually received 17 applications. The commission approved the project of engineer-colonel A.E. Struve and engineer-captain A.A. Weiss, and already on August 30, 1875, work began on the construction of a new crossing across the Neva.
Its construction lasted for four whole years, which, unfortunately, was accompanied by great loss of life.
Rumors spread around the city that, they say, this place is enchanted, that at the bottom of the river - where construction is going on - there is a "bloody" boulder, popularly called the Ancient Atakan. Historians claim that in ancient times this stone was worshiped and made human sacrifices by the tribes that once lived at the mouth of the Neva. As the legend says, prisoners captured during the wars were killed and this stone was sprinkled with their blood. And then the captives began to pray to the Neva, asking her to save them from a terrible death.
And the river seemed to hear their prayers: it changed its course, and the terrible stone that lay on the shore was now at the bottom. But now Atakan began to take revenge on the people who sailed above him: either the boat would sink with the fishermen, or, by an absurd accident, some sailor would be overboard the ship ...
Construction victims
It is not known whether Atakan was to blame, but in September 1876, semi-liquid soil broke into the caissons (structures for the formation of a working chamber free of water under water or in water-saturated soil), where 28 people worked. However, the work continued, and about a year later an explosion thundered at the construction site, the cause of which was never established. And again - human casualties, nine builders died. And it was not the last accident!
Fragment of cast-iron lattice of the Liteiny Bridge
Today, the exact number of victims of the construction of the bridge is difficult to name. This figure ranges from 40 to 100 people, and all the bodies of the dead disappeared without a trace. Numerous tragedies with human casualties forced bridge builders to look for an explanation for what was happening. The most fantastic versions, conjectures, rumors appeared.
black whirlpool
There is a legend that the Foundry Bridge was allegedly built on the site where in ancient times there was a "bridge-werewolf". It was said that under this "werewolf" on moonless nights, a black whirlpool suddenly appeared, which pulled people who were near the river into it. And then "all sorts of evil spirits" climbed out of the whirlpool, which bullied passers-by, "grimacing faces and screaming shameful words." And, like a magnet, this whirlpool of all St. Petersburg suicides attracted to itself ...
The true location of the "werewolf bridge" was not exactly known to anyone. But the old-timers, who knew a lot of St. Petersburg secrets, said that this bridge could be shrouded in fog in the blink of an eye and lead a lonely pedestrian to an unknown place: in other times, other lands, from where there is no return. Perhaps this bridge was the entrance to another dimension?
Ghost of Lenin
The bridge, named Alexandrovsky (in honor of Emperor Alexander II), was solemnly opened on September 30, 1879 and recognized as one of the most grandiose structures of that time. All participants in the construction received generous awards.
However, the name Alexandrovsky did not take root, and later the bridge was renamed Liteiny (this is how the people of St. Petersburg called it from the day it was founded). It was repeatedly reconstructed, and later, already during perestroika, they even began to conduct excursions along it, showing the complex structure of the bridge, its lifting mechanism and talking about mystical events associated with this place.
Start of construction of the Liteiny Bridge
Inexplicable events in the Liteiny Bridge area continue to occur in the 21st century. For example, eyewitnesses here repeatedly spotted the ghost of the leader of the world proletariat V.I. Lenin. So, one day, walking near the bridge, in the area of Mokhovaya Street, pensioner A.P. Alyoshin noticed in front of him some strange bald man with a characteristic beard and a cap. At first, he mistook him for a double of Lenin and decided to get to know him and talk. But then he suddenly noticed some oddities in the appearance of the "double".
A very strong wind was blowing, and passers-by had to hold on to their hats and coat flaps. And "Lenin" obviously did not react to the weather: the wind did not blow off his cap from his head and did not inflate the skirts of his coat. Aleshin followed the strange man further, and when they passed the Big House on Liteiny Prospekt, it seemed to him that a man who looked so much like Lenin looked at this house with surprise (this is not surprising: during the life of Ilyich, the Big House had not yet been built). Then he went to the Liteiny Bridge and ... disappeared. Only then did Alyoshin realize that he had seen a ghost!
And this is not the only case when passers-by saw the figure of Lenin here, disappearing without a trace on the Liteiny Bridge. Other revolutionary heroes “walk” here from time to time, and sometimes entire companies of soldiers and sailors from the time of the Civil War march along the bridge, also suddenly dissolving in the twilight of the night.
mystery number
Astrologers believe that mysticism lies already in the length of the bridge, more precisely, in its numerical expression - 396 meters. If we add these numbers in a special numerological way, then in total we get the number 9. This number corresponds to the planet Neptune, which is responsible for secrets, mysticism, everything irrational, intuition. And in mythology, Neptune is the king of the water element.
Perhaps, in order for the bridge to “take root” here, providence itself took care of the correspondence of its parameters with this area, full of mysteries. Like attracts like. Let's turn to the facts. As you know, they are a stubborn thing.
On this bridge, it happened not only to settle accounts with the lives of suicides, here, with enviable constancy, criminals took the lives of their victims.
One of the latest cases is striking in its cruelty. A certain crime boss “ordered” his competitor to the killer, but he confused the victim with another person and, fulfilling the order, inflicted many stab wounds on him. The murder weapon was later found at the crime scene, and the victim, according to eyewitnesses, was thrown off the bridge by the killer (in this place, by the way, the depth of the Neva reaches 24 meters!). No matter how hard the St. Petersburg detectives tried, neither the killer nor the body of his victim were ever found.
The stories associated with the Foundry Bridge are fascinating, mysterious, and sometimes frightening. Nevertheless, the Liteiny Bridge is one of the architectural gems of our city, and it is worth coming to admire it during the white nights: it is truly a bewitching, mystical sight, especially when the bridge is drawn.
Ekaterina KUDRYASHOVA
Since 1786, the Foundry part of the city was connected with the Vyborg side by the Voskresensky floating bridge, located in the alignment of Chernyshevsky Avenue (then Voskresensky). In 1803, it was placed in front of the Summer Garden, calling it Petersburg. Opposite Voskresensky Prospekt, a new floating bridge was built, which was built until 1849.
In 1849, the Foundry Yard was dismantled, thanks to which it was possible to bring Liteiny Prospekt to the Neva. The Voskresensky Bridge was transferred to the alignment of Liteiny Prospekt and also became known as Liteiny.
The reason for the construction of a permanent bridge here was the failure of the pontoon crossing by a stormy ice drift on April 4, 1865. For a long time there were disputes about the route of such a bridge, between the Admiralteisky and Gorodskoy islands or between the Liteynaya part and the Vyborg side. Only in 1869, the city council voted for the second version of the route, after which the organization of an architectural competition for the construction of the bridge began. The expert commission for the management of design and construction included architects V. A. Lvov, Ts. K. Kavos and L. N. Benois.
By the time the competition was announced, on April 22, 1871, the City Duma had already been offered several options for projects from foreign firms. As a result, seventeen projects took part in the competition. On December 11, 1872, the city council gave the first place to the project under the motto "Westminster", carried out by an English company. But the Ministry of Railways turned out to be against such an outcome of the competition, created its own expert commission and, as a result, recognized the project of engineer-colonel A.E. Struve (a member of this commission) and engineer-captain A.A. Weiss as the winner. Their project included six spans with a rotary wing near the left bank of the Neva. Struve suggested using English and German metal for the construction of the crossing, despite the fact that the domestic material was not inferior in quality.
In 1875, the pontoon Foundry Bridge was built for the last time. On August 30, the laying of a new crossing took place, after which the ponies were again moved to the alignment of Voskresensky Prospekt. They were no longer directed after the construction of the permanent Liteiny Bridge was completed.
Construction conditions were extremely difficult. It is here that the Neva has the greatest depth - 24 meters. During the work, there were two accidents with human casualties. On September 16, 1876, due to the sharp subsidence of the support, semi-liquid soil broke into the caisson, where five people died as a result. On September 9, 1877, during the construction of foundations for river supports, an explosion occurred in the caisson, which claimed the lives of nine more people.
During the construction of the crossing, a number of innovations were applied. So steel was chosen as the material for the supporting structures, and not cast iron, as in the construction of the Nikolaevsky bridge. As a result, the spans of the arches were increased by one and a half times.
The construction cost amounted to 5,100,000 rubles, which was one and a half times higher than the estimated cost.
The width of the Foundry Bridge was 24.5 meters, the width of the drawbridge was 19.8 meters. The mass of metal superstructures is 5,902 tons. Its adjustable part was initially set in motion with the help of an ordinary gate and eight workers. Later, a water turbine with a capacity of only 36 horsepower was installed here, connected to the city's water supply. The way for courts opened already in 20 minutes .
The grand opening of the bridge took place on September 30, 1879. For the work done, A.E. Struve was awarded the rank of major general. The Liteiny Bridge became the second permanent crossing of the Neva in St. Petersburg after the Nikolaevsky Bridge. In 1903, the Liteiny Bridge was renamed Alexandrovsky (Alexander II Bridge), in 1917 the former name was returned.
Despite the fact that, in general, the artistic qualities of the Liteiny Bridge turned out to be small, the railings can attract attention. They are highly artistic castings based on a drawing by K. K. Rachau. The drawing of the railing depicts mermaids holding the emblem of St. Petersburg in their hands. There are 546 such coats of arms on Liteiny Bridge. Cast iron railings were installed on all fixed spans. On the adjustable one, simple light fences were installed. They were cast at the Kahuna factory.
The Foundry Bridge was the first, and for a long time remained the only one, to receive electric lighting. Electric lights were installed on it in 1879. This was facilitated by the fact that by the time the Foundry Bridge was opened, the old lighting companies had not managed to conclude a contract for its lighting. They were ahead of the "P. N. Yablochkov-Inventor and Co. Association of Electrical Lighting", which introduced street electric light into practice.
During the Great Patriotic War, a bomb hit one of the spans of the bridge. However, it did not explode, only breaking through it.
In 1964, the updated Volga-Baltic route was opened. The foundry bridge no longer meets the new operating conditions. In 1966-1967, the reconstruction of the Foundry Bridge was carried out according to the project of engineers L. A. Vildgrude, K. P. Klochkov, N. D. Shipov and architect Yu. I. Sinitsa. The draw span was shifted to the deeper part of the channel, its width increased to 50 meters. The width of the crossing was increased to 34 meters. The opening of the bridge began to be carried out with the help of a hydraulic drive. At the same time, the huge bull of the drawbridge, on which the old structure relied, disappeared. The crossing thus acquired a more harmonious shape.
At the entrance to the bridge on both banks of the river, a two-level interchange was organized. Cast-iron railings were retained on the bridge; for the draw span, they were made of a lighter alloy. The length of the Liteiny Bridge was 396 meters.
Drawbridge across the Neva River in St. Petersburg. The first wooden floating bridge connected the banks of the Neva near this place in 1786. In 1875-1879, a permanent crossing was built in the form of a five-span metal arched bridge with a sixth turning span, designed by A. E. Struve. In 1966-1967, the bridge underwent a global reconstruction with the replacement of supports, spans and a draw span with a vertical one, and later scheduled repairs were repeatedly carried out.
The first pontoon bridge was called Voskresensky along Voskresensky Prospekt, in the alignment of which it was located. The permanent bridge owes its name to the Foundry Yard, which was previously located on the left bank of the Neva River. In 1903, when the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg was celebrated, the Liteiny Bridge was renamed the Emperor Alexander II Bridge. But after the revolution of 1917, in the wake of the struggle against the legacy of tsarism, the name Liteiny was returned to the bridge.
The competition for the development of the bridge project was announced in 1871, it was won by the project of English engineers "Westminster". However, the Ministry of Railways criticized the English project, so the engineer A.E. Struve developed his own project, which formed the basis of the Liteiny Bridge, founded in 1875. The construction of the bridge was very difficult, in this place the Neva has a maximum depth, so the construction of the supports took a lot of time, money, and was accompanied by frequent human casualties. The bridge was completed only in 1879. The resulting bridge structure consisted of 6 spans: 5 permanent and one articulated swivel designed for the passage of ships.
Liteiny became the second permanent bridge across the Neva River (after Blagoveshchensky). With its construction, the entire Vyborg side, on the way from Russia to Sweden, received a solid connection with the rest of the city, and industrial areas - a reliable channel for transporting products.
During the construction of the Liteiny Bridge, many revolutionary engineering solutions were used: in the construction of supports (caissons), in the construction of spans and in the hinge mechanism. Also, this bridge became the world's first permanent bridge with electric lighting.
The decor of the bridge - cast-iron pillars and railing grilles - was made using highly artistic casting. In the center of the picture was a shield with the emblem of the city: a crossed scepter, sea and river anchors in the hands of two mermaids, whose tails are woven into a floral ornament, and sea animals are in the gaps of cast-iron columns.
In the middle of the 20th century, the Liteiny Bridge underwent a major reconstruction; for the convenience of the passage of massive ships, the drawbridge was moved closer to the center and the drawbridge was replaced with a rising one. In addition, the construction of the support piers and steel spans was strengthened, and granite slopes to the water were designed. At the same time, a valuable decorative grille was retained on the bridge, adding to it similar supports for lighting lanterns.
The bridge is 407.8 m long and 34 m wide.
The Fencing of the Liteyny Bridge is included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects (monuments of history and culture) of Russia.
Note to tourists:
A visit to the Liteiny Bridge will be of interest to tourists interested in the architecture of the 19th-20th centuries, to everyone who wants to see the drawbridges of St. Guards of the Horse Artillery, the buildings of the Military Medical Academy and the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy.
