Novospassky Bridge () is a steel

plate girder bridge A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders. Overview In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), w ...

that spans

Moskva River The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...

, connecting

Novospassky Monastery Novospassky Monastery (''New Monastery of the Savior'', ) is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from the south-east. Like all medieval Russian monasteries, it was built by the Russian Orthodox Church. The abbey traces its history ...

and Paveletsky rail terminal areas in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(about 3 kilometers south-east from the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

). It was built in 1911, as a triple-span steel

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

. Reconstruction in 2000 replaced arches with a simpler plate girder structure. Note that the memorial plaque on the bridge spells its name ''Ново-Спасский'', with dash, despite tradition and spelling rules.

History

Wooden bridges at the site of fortified

Novospassky monastery Novospassky Monastery (''New Monastery of the Savior'', ) is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from the south-east. Like all medieval Russian monasteries, it was built by the Russian Orthodox Church. The abbey traces its history ...

existed since 16th century. The last wooden causeway was demolished in 1910. In 1911, the city built a triple-span arched bridge, similar to other pre-revolutionary Moscow bridges. Spans were 40.54, 46.99 and 40.54 meters long, 21.2 meters wide (4 lanes, including two tram lines). Each span was supported by 14 arches, 3.7 meters high for middle span, 3.3 meters high for side spans. Steel deck was paved with timbers. In 1937–1938, the bridge was reconstructed to the design by Yu.F.Werner (

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and joints' that create the form and shape of human-made Structure#Load-bearing, structures. Structural engineers also ...

), N.B.Sokolov and Yakovlev brothers (architectural design). They raised the deck by 2.7 meters, which increased water clearance 8.6 meters high, 30 meters wide (for heavy barge traffic after completion of

Moscow Canal The Moscow Canal (), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a canal in Russia that connects the Moskva (river) with the Volga. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Moscow Oblast. The canal connects to the Moskva River in Tushino (an ...

). This also enabled separating embankment and bridge traffic in two levels (street-level throughways under main deck), total length with ramps reached 502 meters. Timber pavement was replaced with concrete and asphalt.

Reconstruction of 2000

In 2000, the bridge was rebuilt with complete replacement of deck structure. Arches were replaced with a simple steel girder set covered with

orthotropic deck An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both t ...

, 24.4 meters wide. The architects tried to mimic the old outline with arch-like skirts; these look inadequately lightweight and are nowhere near the original. The structure itself is lightweight, excessively vibrating when trams pass by. Build quality is questionable. As soon as 2003, the granite-clad shoreside pillars and ramps were covered with rusty spots showing fast corrosion right under the surface. According to the authors of ''Bridges of Moscow'', reconstruction of ''Novospassky'' is the worst of its kind ever done in Moscow.''Bridges of Moscow'', 2004, p.70

References

{{coord, display=title, 55, 43, 44, N, 37, 39, 14, E Bridges in Moscow Deck arch bridges Bridges completed in 1911 Plate girder bridges 1911 establishments in the Russian Empire Tram bridges

History

Reconstruction of 2000

See also

References