Colored bridges of St. Petersburg: Red across the Moika

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Northern Palmyra is rightfully a diamond of pure water in the crown of Russia. It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists all year round. For most visitors, a visit to bridge structures is a separate fad of the program. But in the end, only a small fraction of them can be seen. After all, drawbridges are mainly attracted, and the rest are looked around only in passing, from the windows of public or sightseeing transport. One of such structures in St. Petersburg is the Red Bridge.

Colored bridges

Each bridge in St. Petersburg has its own story. Those that are thrown across the Moika also have it. Initially, they practically did not differ from each other, so it was decided to paint them in different colors and christen them with a name in accordance with the color:

• Green.
• Red (aka White).
• Blue.
• Yellow (now Khrapovitsky).

These are not all colored bridges of St. Petersburg. There wasalso Black, but it was thrown across the Smolenka, and subsequently it was dismantled.

Location of the Red Bridge in St. Petersburg

The bridge is thrown across the Moika just along the border of two districts: Admir alteisky and Central. It is part of Gorokhovaya Street, which connects Kazansky and Second Admir alteysky Islands.

In order to see the bridge, you should get to the metro station "Admir alteyskaya", the stops "Bolshaya Morskaya Street" or "Kazanskaya Street", if departure by surface public transport is expected. Then walk to the Moika Embankment.

History of Creation

The existence of the bridge, according to some sources, was already recorded at the beginning of the 18th century. In the 37th year of the same period, it became necessary to rebuild it. The new design was created with a specially arranged gap in the middle for the passage of ships, which was closed with shields at other times. At the end of the century, another restructuring awaited him. At the same time, the passage of large ships was no longer envisaged, and there were three spans. Until 1778, he was called White.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a project was developed for this bridge by engineer V. I. Geste. It again became single-span, but this time the tree was replaced by cast iron. The arched structure did not have a hinged mechanism, it did not provide for breeding.

Cast-iron elements were manufactured at the factories of N. N. Demidov, a major industrialist from the Urals. The lattice fence repeats the pattern of the embankment fence. A simpler latticeinstalled to highlight the sidewalk. The bridge supports were made of large rubble. The top was covered with granite. On the bridge itself, there are obelisks made of granite, from which lighting lanterns were hung.

Some cast iron elements were replaced with steel in 1954. At the same time, compliance with the project in appearance was preserved. In 1998, the last restoration in the history of the bridge took place. The cast-iron fence returned to it. In addition, the lighting has been redone to suit the times.

Today, this is the only bridge of this design that has retained not only the integrity of the original structure, but also the appearance that has existed since 1814.

Features

Today, the Red Bridge in St. Petersburg is a single-span structure in the form of a steel arch 42 meters long and 16.8 meters wide. It provides for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The latter has three lanes, one of which is exclusively for public transport.

Crossing the Moika in the direction of the Admir alteisky district, you can get to the shopping center "At the Red Bridge". In St. Petersburg, this building has another name - Trading House "S. Esders and K. Scheifals”. Its distinguishing feature is the presence of a tower with a caduceus, illuminated at night. This building of 1906 is also a hallmark of the Red Bridge of St. Petersburg.