2nd Lavrsky Bridge, Lavrsky Drive, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191167
The 2nd Lavrsky Bridge spans the Monastyrka River along the axis of Lavrsky Drive, leading from Alexander Nevsky Square to the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The crossing connects the Nameless and Monastyrsky Islands and is intended for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The bridge is skewed in plan, with a skew angle of 15°.
The length of the bridge is 35.8 meters, and the width is 10.4 meters. The bridge is a single-span wooden arch with a roadway on top. The span structure consists of six arches made from pine boards glued together with synthetic epoxy resin-based adhesive. These are connected to the longitudinal beams of the bridge deck by wooden clamps.
The bridge abutments are brick masonry on a pile foundation, reinforced with a reinforced concrete casing. The railings are simple-patterned metal welded grilles. At the entrances, four metal torches with stylized lamps of classical form are installed. The roadway surface is asphalt concrete over wood sheathing, while the sidewalks have a single-layer wooden plank decking.
The history of the crossing dates back to the mid-18th century, when a simple wooden beam-and-strut bridge was thrown over the Chyornaya River (as the Monastyrka River was then called) near the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Its first name was the Garden Bridge, named after the monastery gardens spread along the left bank of the river.
The crossing was repeatedly repaired in wood. In 1830, the bridge was rebuilt into a single-span arch structure with a span consisting of five plank-and-nail arches with a superstructure made of beams. The abutments were massive brick masonry on a pile foundation; the roadway surface was wooden planks, and the railing was made of beams. Since then, the bridge retained its structure almost unchanged for 150 years.
The crossing has had several names. On 19th-century maps of St. Petersburg, the bridge was successively marked as the 2nd Alexandrovsky, Economic, and Stable Bridge. It received its current name at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, following the renaming of the Monastyrsky Bridge to the 1st Lavrsky Bridge. Both bridges were named after the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
After the war, the bridge fell into disrepair and was used as a pedestrian bridge from 1950 to 1980. In 1980, it was dismantled.
In 1980–1981, a new single-span wooden arch bridge was built on the site of the old crossing. An innovative technology for manufacturing bridge elements from glued laminated timber was used in its construction. This is the first bridge built in our city from glued laminated timber. The structures were manufactured at the "Krasny Oktyabr" plant in Arkhangelsk.
The sturdy brick abutments of the bridge were preserved and only reinforced with reinforced concrete.
The 2nd Lavrsky Bridge connects the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra with the necropolises of the State Museum of Urban Sculpture.
Sources:
https://mostotrest-spb.ru/bridges/2-j-lavrskij
