During tours of St. Petersburg, guides often hear the question of which drawbridge is the longest? And they learn that the Alexander Nevsky Bridge holds the palm. The length (without buildings on the shore) is 629 meters, with ramps - almost a kilometer (905.7 m). The width of the building is thirty-five meters. The unique building was built in 1965, although it could have been on the threshold of its century: the construction across the Neva River, in the gap between Zalessky and Nevsky prospects, was envisaged by the general plan of the city of the distant revolutionary era (1917).
Competitive
Connecting the right bank of the city with the center, the Alexander Nevsky bridge completes the main street of St. Petersburg. It is believed that the old St. Petersburg ends here, he escorts daily passengers and pedestrians to the historical district of Malaya Okhta, where there are "Stalinka" (houses built in the period from 1930 to 1950s), typical buildings of the 1960s.
The straight and short path of iron and concrete brought the people of Okhta (and the population of the vast environs) to a qualitatively new level of being. The pluses include the fact that the line passed through the Nevsky, "bringing together",finally, M. Okhta and Vasilievsky Island.
The history of the construction of the bridge in close proximity to Alexander Nevsky Square and its further existence are full of difficult, sometimes dramatic moments.
In 1960, the Leningrad City Executive Committee announced a competition for the best plan for an overpass across the main water artery of St. Petersburg. Unusual for that time, the event was of a closed nature (a truly unprecedented case in the days of the planned economy). The competition for the creation of technical and decorative projects was attended by Leningrad and Moscow organizations involved in the design of bridges.
In the parade of ideas had the right to participate in the Institute for the design of housing and civil construction "Lenproekt" Leningrad branch of the ASiA of the USSR (Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture).
Taking into account every detail
Having gone through many busy days and sleepless nights, experts have shown the world how they see the Alexander Nevsky Bridge. A strict jury decided not to award the main prize, considering that not a single project meets the necessary requirements. The second prize went to the version developed by the Lengiprotransmost Institute. The plan of the Leningrad branch of the ASiA of the USSR was also singled out from the general mass, but the academicians did not receive the signal “For execution”
Lengiprotransmost was responsible for design assignments and working drawings. According to a huge number of plans, it was necessary to build multi-level complexes of bridges, tunnels, roads, clearly dividing future traffic flows. Junctions on the rightand the left banks of the Neva were carefully thought out.
The authors made the spaces inside the bridge ramps work: they planned parking garages for 230 cars. But this is not what impresses the Alexander Nevsky Bridge. Wiring! Here is a shock to the eye and imagination. The two-winged span of the reinforced concrete river handsome man resembles the flapping of the wings of a giant bird. However, people saw all this later, and then, having prepared well, the performers began construction.
As you know, there is no harmony in the world
And here it was a landmark moment in 1965, when the Alexander Nevsky bridge with seven spans rose over the Neva. The axis of symmetry is the center of the draw section (its length was 50 meters). As planned, the “gates” for vessels with a fixed axis of rotation were located exactly in the middle of the river. It was clear that the draw span was based on more massive supports than all the others.
It seemed to many that the massive "swing" part of the bridge interferes with the harmonious perception of the structure. The main components - dimensions, color, material of which it consists, are "contrary" to similar elements of stationary spans, which are covered with continuous reinforced concrete beams of variable height. But harmony is good, and reliability is better.
As for the bridge fencing, lampposts (they are also tram and trolleybus electric poles), structures for fixing the supporting and fixing devices of the contact network, all these elements are designed in a strict, modern style andperfectly complement the look of the now historic "crossing".
And today, some people consider the building majestic, others do not find anything special in it, except for traffic jams during rush hours. Is the interchange at the Alexander Nevsky bridge not able to cope with modern traffic flows?
Riding on top is the "highlight" of the bridge (category of buildings of equal height). Designed in compliance with the proportionality of the design of large parts of the structure (main beams, supports), they look quite elegant. They were tested for strength on May 15, 1965 (a column of tanks drove across the bridge).
Tested by time
The celebration on the occasion of the opening of the bridge, which received the name of the patron of the city - the Russian commander Alexander Nevsky, took place on November 5. When the construction was going on, the object was called Staro-Nevsky. Among the new technologies applied are reinforced concrete shells for supports buried at a depth of 35 meters, the use of stay-up cables (cables of standing rigging), the tension of which, depending on the air temperature, was controlled by instruments, and structures of span structures in a V-shape.
But advanced technology did not guarantee 100% quality. Glass wool waterproofing dissolved in a material common at that time called bitumen; the shrouds, treated with cannon oil, rusted; the cables began to burst (56 pieces broke in two years).
To top it all off, in 1987, the counterweight of the drawbridge collapsed into the river (weighing 17 tons!). The bridge was closed for repairs. organizedoperation of a temporary ferry crossing. Soon the main movement resumed, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Defects that threaten the integrity of the bridge have not been fixed.
Large-scale work on the elimination of faults, worn structural elements, restoration and replacement in order to improve the performance of the bridge was carried out already in the new millennium (2000-2002). The drawbridge, the stationary parts of the crossing, the walls of the embankment adjacent to the structure were restored, the waterproofing and twelve kilometers of steel ropes were replaced.
Since 2003, the "length record holder" is decorated with artistic lighting. It consists of half a thousand lamps, eight devices with mirrors and reflectors (spotlights). With such magical lighting, the drawing of the Alexander Nevsky Bridge is a surreal story.
