Tuchkov Bridge is located across the Malaya Neva River at the alignment of Bolshoy Prospekt on the Petrograd side and the 1st and Syezdovskaya (now Kadetskaya) lines of Vasilievsky Island. For a long time, bridges across the Malaya Neva were not built because they obstructed the passage of ships to the pier of the Commercial Port, which was then located in the area of the Strelka of Vasilievsky Island (now Admiral Makarov Embankment). Although bridge crossings were needed to connect the mainland part of the city with the large islands, Petersburgsky and Vasilievsky. In summer, the connection was made by boats, in winter — over the ice.

Tuchkov Bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Saint Petersburg: its construction date is definitively stated as 1759. And it has always been located in this very place (which cannot be said about every Petersburg bridge). For the first time, a floating bridge on pontoons was laid across the Malaya Neva in 1759. The very first name of the bridge was Nikolsky. On the right bank of the Malaya Neva, where the Prince Vladimir Cathedral now stands, there once was a wooden Assumption Church, and the new bridge was initially named Nikolsky after its southern Nikolsky chapel, closest to the Malaya Neva. But this name did not last long. One of the main “sponsors” of the bridge construction was the timber industrialist Avraam Tuchkov; the Tuchkov family then owned “almost everything” along the banks of the Malaya Neva, so it was logical. Soon, the bridge naturally became known as “Tuchkov.”

The wooden bridge consisted of two parts: a pontoon section in the deep part of the riverbed and a pile section in the shallow water. The bridge was located closer to the river mouth near the Penkov and Vatny Islands, where merchant Avraam Tuchkov’s warehouses were located. At that time, it was the longest bridge in the city — 890.0 meters; now, according to reference books, it is 226 meters. The reason is that back then, the Malaya Neva was somewhat wider, the coastal relief was different, and the bridge itself noticeably “extended” onto the banks. Thus, additional meters, or rather fathoms and arshins, accumulated. Structurally, Tuchkov Bridge was combined: in shallow water, it rested on pile supports, and in the middle of the riverbed — on barge-pontoons. The bridge opening for ship passage was carried out in the pontoon section.

In 1833–1835, the floating bridge was replaced by a multi-span wooden beam-braced system bridge on wooden pile supports with a double-leaf draw span in the middle. The bridge was constructed in the alignment of Bolshoy Prospekt of the Petersburg side with the construction of an earthen dam from the Malaya Neva River to the future Alexandrovsky Prospekt (now Dobrolyubova Ave). The draw span consisted of four wooden frames and was opened using manual winches. The roadway was wooden, made of crossbeams and double wooden decking. On the bridge’s approaches, railings made of cast iron artistic grilles with rectangular pedestals were installed.

In 1839, it was on Tuchkov Bridge that a completely “innovative” road surface for Russia was tested. It was called by the beautiful word “asphalt.”

Not every reconstruction of the bridge was simply out of a desire to make it more beautiful and reliable. For example, in 1879, Tuchkov Bridge simply burned down completely, allegedly from an unextinguished cigarette. Whatever the case, it had to be rebuilt from scratch.

Tuchkov Bridge was renamed only once, on a photographic postcard from the early 20th century. Where the proofreader was and who was having tea at that time is unknown, but in the final version, Pont Toutschkoff suddenly reverted back to Russian as “Muchkov Bridge.” Well, such things happen!

Immediately after the revolution, like many others, there was an attempt to rename Tuchkov Bridge. But then they remembered the hero of the Battle of Borodino, General Tuchkov, and decided to leave the name as it was. Probably a legend, but the fact remains: Tuchkov Bridge remained Tuchkov Bridge.

The bridge was repeatedly repaired in wood. In 1920, it was rebuilt as a 20-span bridge.

In 1948, after another major overhaul, the permanent spans were covered with metal I-beams with longitudinal and transverse piles. The wooden frames in the draw span were replaced with metal ones, and the manual winches with electric ones. The supports of the draw span were again built on a wooden pile foundation with a rigid metal grillage and metal frame structure.

The left-bank abutment of the bridge was stone on a pile foundation, and all other supports were wooden on a pile foundation. The length of the bridge was 258.0 meters, width — 19.0 meters. Due to the completion of the Volga-Baltic Canal, which replaced the outdated Mariinskaya system in 1964, large and heavy vessels began entering the Neva River and its branches. Moreover, Tuchkov Bridge is one of the most heavily trafficked bridges, connecting Vasilievsky Island with the city. A large part of the products from enterprises located on the island is transported over it, due to the lack of railway access.

The time came when the dimensions and load capacity of the bridge no longer met the requirements of land and water transport, so the question of its full-scale reconstruction arose.

In 1962–1965, according to the project of engineers from Lengiproinzhproekt, a new 3-span reinforced concrete bridge with a draw span in the middle was built. The longitudinal axis of the new bridge was shifted 3.0 meters downstream from the axis of the previously existing bridge.

The permanent span structures were built as a cantilever-beam system with a suspended middle section. Made of prestressed reinforced concrete. The lower chords of the cantilevers and suspended beams have a curved outline. The suspensions rest on cantilevers embedded in the supports. This type of span structure was used before the construction of Tuchkov Bridge on the single-span reinforced concrete bridge of Krasny Kursant over the Zhdanovka River in 1962. In cross-section, the permanent span structure of Tuchkov Bridge consists of eight main box-section beams.

The draw span is double-leaf, opening system with a fixed axis of rotation with rigidly attached counterweights, with a hydraulic drive. The span structure is metal, fully welded. In the closed position, it is a beam-cantilever system. The bridge abutments are massive reinforced concrete on pile foundations, clad in granite.

The supports are massive reinforced concrete on a high pile grillage, clad in granite. During the construction of the supports, shell piles with a diameter of 56 cm filled with concrete were used. The roadway surface is asphalt concrete, on the permanent spans — on reinforced concrete slabs, and on the draw span — on an orthotropic slab. The sidewalks have sand asphalt. The sidewalk is separated from the roadway on the permanent spans by a granite railing, and on the draw span — by a metal one. The length of the bridge at that time was 226.2 meters, width — 36.0 meters, including two sidewalks of 4.0 meters each.

The pavilion with the control panel is located on the right bank on the upstream side of the bridge.

The bridge railings are metal welded grilles of a simple design made of square-section rods set at an angle and interwoven in such a way that they create an unusual volumetric pattern along the entire length of the bridge. On the bridge approaches, granite parapets are installed on all four sides.

As a final strength test in 1965, a tank column passed over Tuchkov Bridge. And at that time, according to an old Russian construction custom, the architects, engineers, and builders themselves sat in an open boat under the bridge watching... just kidding. But the tank column is a documented fact; the structure honorably withstood the load, and on November 6, 1965, the bridge was solemnly opened. It became a true decoration of the city on the Neva.

On the embankment of the right bank on the upstream side near the pavilion and on the downstream side of the Zhdanovka River at the approach to the bridge, there are granite-clad stairways leading down to the water.

The lighting on the bridge is standard street lighting, with one lamp installed on metal tubular poles.

Sources:

https://dzen.ru/a/ZH2GCXPTRWN2dqDt

https://krti.gov.spb.ru/mosty-sankt-peterburga/tuchkov-most/