Palace Bridge (, ''Dvortsoviy Most''), a road- and foot-traffic
bascule bridge
A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...
, spans the
Neva River in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
between
Palace Square
Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...
and
Vasilievsky Island. Like every other Neva bridge (except for
Big Obukhovsky Bridge), it is drawn by night, making foot travel between various parts of the city virtually impossible. The bascule span was designed by an American firm, the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, and built by the French firm
Société de Construction des Batignolles between 1912 and 1916.
The total length of Palace Bridge is 260.1 metres, width is 27.8 metres. It is actually composed of five spans, the southernmost joining Palace Embankment between the
Winter Palace and the
Admiralty and leading to
Palace Square
Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...
.
History
After
Emperor Nicholas I lifted
Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
's prohibition to construct bridges across the Neva, a temporary
pontoon bridge was set up about 50 metres downstream from the current structure.
In 1862, students protesting for a liberal, progressive, and constitutional government were being beaten by the police on the Neva bridge. When the Empress,
Maria Feodorovna passed by, the crowds cheered. "They were quite loyal", she said, "they cheered me. Why do you allow the police to treat them so brutally?".
Construction of the cast-iron bridge was started in 1912 to designs by Andrey Pshenitsky, but the work was delayed by
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and the bridge was not opened to the public until December 23, 1916. The history leading up to the construction of this bridge was tortuous with 54 proposed designs rejected between 1901 and 1911. The design was subject to strict controls so as to prevent the bridge from obstructing the view from
Palace Embankment towards
Kunstkammer,
Imperial Academy of Arts, and other structures on Vasilievsky Island.
During the
October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
the bridge was singled out as one of the principal sites to be occupied by the insurrectionists in order to control the city, it was taken without any fighting.
A year after its inauguration, the bridge was renamed Republican Bridge (), but the original name was restored in 1952. Various improvements and embellishments of the structure continued well into the Soviet times. In 1967, the bridge was repaired. The
tramway tracks were removed in 1998.
Drawing mechanism
The engine which opens up 700 ton of each bridge flights consists of motors, huge gears (some of which are still the original ones) and thousand-ton counterweights. The mechanism works reliably, but sometimes small incidents occur. In October 2002 one of the gear teeth broke off: consequently the drawing was halted in the middle, and ship passage was delayed.
Gallery
File:030526-SaintPetersburg-IMG 0081-2.jpg, Palace Bridge, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, 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 ...
File:030526-SaintPetersburg-IMG 0072-2.jpg, State Hermitage Museum, Near the Palace Bridge, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, 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 ...
File:030526-SaintPetersburg-IMG 0082-2.jpg, Palace Bridge, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, 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 ...
File:030526-SaintPetersburg-IMG 0054-2.jpg, Near the Palace Bridge, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, 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 ...
See also
*
List of bridges in Saint Petersburg
References
External links
Palace Bridge WebCamVideo "Saint Petersburg, Palace Bridge, aerial video 4k (Ultra HD)"
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Bridges
, place = Neva River and Bolshaya Neva
, bridge = Palace Bridge
, bridge signs =
, upstream = Trinity Bridge
, upstream signs =
, downstream = Blagoveshchensky Bridge
, downstream signs =
Bascule bridges
Bridges in Saint Petersburg
Bridges completed in 1916
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg