Palace Bridge, Palace Square, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034
Spanning the Bolshaya Neva between Palace Square and the spit of Vasilievsky Island.
The Palace Bridge has five spans. The draw span is double-leafed, 56.5 meters wide, one of the largest in the world. The mass of the metal span structures is 4,868 tons, and the counterweights weigh 2,800 tons.
The bridge is drawn using a modern hydraulic system. When opening, the counterweights descend into pits up to 2 meters below the ordinary water level. The entire opening cycle takes 5 minutes, and the bridge is closed in the same amount of time.
The Palace Bridge is illuminated by 28 lanterns mounted on 16 poles. The railing consists of 156 sections, each weighing 280 kilograms.
The bridge is considered one of the most complex structures not only in Russia but also abroad.
The first crossing here appeared in 1727. The floating Isaakievsky Bridge was located downstream, between the Senate and Synod buildings and the Menshikov Palace. It consisted of wooden barges and was temporary: the bridge was assembled during the navigation period, and in winter people crossed the Neva over the ice.
In 1850, the first permanent bridge across the Neva was opened — the Blagoveshchensky Bridge. At the request of the townspeople, the floating bridge was moved to the Winter Palace, where a boat ferry had operated until then. The barge Palace Bridge operated year-round. In 1863, a horse-drawn railway opened. Rails were laid on the bridge. The horsecar, and later the tram, ran across the Palace Bridge until 1997.
In 1896, the floating Palace Bridge was moved 53.25 meters downstream from the place where the permanent Palace Bridge was later built in 1911–1916. The relocation was related to the decision to create a landscaped area in front of the western facade of the Winter Palace. The work on assembling the barge bridge, started in winter 1896, was completed on December 23, 1897; the bridge was consecrated and opened for vehicle and pedestrian traffic in a solemn ceremony.
“On April 21, 1899, at 9:30 a.m., a leak formed in the joints of barges No. 11 and No. 12 of the Palace Bridge, after which traffic on the bridge was stopped and water was pumped out of the mentioned barges; however, despite timely measures, 15 minutes later barge No. 11 sank, which forced the closure of pedestrian traffic on the bridge as well; to save the other sinking barges, steamers with water pumps were called, but all efforts were unsuccessful: at 1:30 p.m. barges No. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 sank. The Palace Bridge was raised from the water, and only on May 13 was carriage and pedestrian traffic restored.”
As a result, the authorities of St. Petersburg decided to build a permanent crossing. In 1901, a competition was announced for the best bridge design, but none of the 27 submitted projects were accepted. Among the participants was the French firm “Batignolles,” which designed the Trinity Bridge. Its project was also rejected, and the commission announced a new competition.
The results were announced in 1909. The winning project was by engineer Andrey Pshenitsky and architect Robert-Friedrich Meltzer. The contract was signed with the “Kolomna Plant Society.” According to the contract, only Russian specialists worked on the construction, and only domestic materials were used.
Construction of the Palace Bridge began in October 1911, with the opening planned for November 1913. However, construction was delayed. In April 1914, flooding interfered with the work, and then World War I began.
In 1911, after the start of construction of the permanent stone Palace Bridge, the floating bridge was moved downstream to Senate Square, where it remained until 1916, when it burned down from a spark from a tugboat passing along the Neva.
The bridge was completed by the end of 1916. In mid-December, a load test was conducted: 34 cargo trucks, each carrying 600 poods (9,600 kg), simultaneously drove onto the bridge and occupied all spans. The bridge held. The first carriage crossed the Palace Bridge on December 23, 1916. This date is considered the official birthday of the Palace Bridge.
The opening ceremony was modest — the war was ongoing. Neither representatives of the royal family nor the city mayor attended, who gave the ribbon-cutting honor to his deputy.
Due to the war, the bridge was delivered without architectural decoration, although the project planned it to be very lavish. Railings, lanterns, control pavilions — all of this was made later under Soviet rule. For example, the cast-iron railing with stars and banners appeared only in 1939. The authors of the railing were sculptor Igor Krestovsky and architect Lev Noskov.
From 1918 to 1952, the bridge was named the Republican Bridge.
During the Great Patriotic War, only urgent repairs were carried out on the bridge: damage from artillery shelling and bombings was fixed. In January 1943, an aerial bomb exploded near the left-bank support of the draw span, causing significant destruction.
In 1957, granite parapets were installed on the piers and intermediate supports. Until the late 1970s, some structural elements of the Palace Bridge were wooden. In 1978, during a major overhaul, the supports of the draw span were completed, and the wooden deck was replaced with an orthotropic slab.
In 1997, another renovation was carried out: tram rails were removed from the bridge, and at the same time, the bridge received nighttime illumination. To celebrate this event, on November 14, 1997, the festival “Palace Bridge Lights Up” was held. The lighting was turned on to the cannon salute of the Peter and Paul Fortress, followed by fireworks and ballroom dancing on the bridge in period costumes.
The draw mechanism was electromechanical from the day the bridge opened until the 2012–2013 reconstruction. Huge solid-cast gears were driven by an electric motor.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Palace Bridge had exhausted its service life. Major repairs began on October 21, 2012, and were completed on October 19, 2013. Traffic on the bridge was not stopped during the reconstruction. During the repair, the draw span underwent a complete modernization. The draw mechanism was equipped with a modern hydraulic system. At the same time, rivets from the tsarist era were preserved on the non-draw parts of the Palace Bridge.
The Palace Bridge is drawn and closed about 400 times a year — usually twice a day. Up to 25 vessels pass under the opened bridge wings overnight. A crew of six people operates the opening.
During some summer film festivals, the bridge turns into a huge open-air cinema. The wing of the opened Palace Bridge on the Hermitage side serves as a screen over 400 square meters in area.
Sources:
