In the fall of 1916 in Ulyanovsk (the old name of the city is Simbirsk), the opening of a new large bridge took place. At that time it was the largest railway crossing the Volga in Europe. Subsequently, he played a large role in the economy of the province and Siberia.
Who made the decision to build?
In the XIX century, a railway was laid in Simbirsk, and immediately it was planned to build a bridge across the Volga. Previously, goods brought along the tracks were unloaded from wagons. In summer, barges were transported to the other side. In winter, cargo was moved from coast to coast along a frozen river. On the opposite side, everything was again loaded into the train cars.
In the fall of 1910, Stolypin sailed along the Volga. And for a while he landed on the shore of Simbirsk. During this visit, Prince Dolgoruky, merchants and honorary citizens of Simbirsk presented the Minister with arguments about the relevance, importance and need to build a bridge in order to achieve a high economic recovery in the city. Stolypin agreed and took personal control of the construction of the railway bridge.
Start of construction
In 1913, the construction of the bridge began. An engineer with experience N. A. Belelyubsky, a former class specialist in bridge construction and structural mechanics, took up the design. Prior to that, he had built more than one hundred bridges, and was also involved in the construction of large railway bridges, across long and wide rivers.
At a factory in Donetsk (Ukraine), metal structures were made for the construction of a bridge. They brought it to Simbirsk, and there they assembled it at the construction site. In the Urals, granite was mined for lining piers. In the Simbirsk province itself , stone and rubble were mined. Spans made of riveted iron, this was used for the first time in world practice. For installation, the latest technology was used. For underwater work, caissons and bridge cranes were used. The construction took place all year, even in severe winter frosts it did not stop. In the summer of 1914 there was a fire on the bridge. And a landslide passed from the mountain, destroying eight completely rebuilt piers and destroying many buildings, houses and almost the entire railway station. Because of this, the construction of the bridge was difficult for some time.
In the shortest possible time, the construction of a large railway bridge was completed. It took only 2.5 years to build this giant. There is a high level of safety: during the construction work there were no deaths. In October 1916, construction was completely completed.
Opening
The bridge began to operate in 1916, October 18. And immediately launched freight traffic. In honor of the beginning of the bridge, local priests held a prayer service with the bishop of Simbirsk and Syzran and the rite of consecration of the railway bridge. The governor of the city of Simbirsk thanked the builders and those who decided to build the bridge. At the time of the ceremony, the bridge was named "His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II." But soon the name changed - it was renamed the "Liberty Bridge". It happened in 1917.
When the White Guards retreated from the city in 1918, they blew up one span, which was quickly restored by the new government.
Car traffic over the Imperial Bridge
During the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the berths of the bridge were expanded. During the reconstruction, traffic on the Imperial Bridge in Ulyanovsk was not stopped. November 6, 1956 opened the railway traffic. When the reconstruction was completed, new spans were redone for car traffic. Cars began to ride across the bridge in 1958 at the end of summer (August 10). In the lanes for the movement of cars, piers were attached, for these works, divers were involved.
The Imperial railway bridge in Ulyanovsk was built using riveted joints, and the automobile bridge was welded, which became a new word in the construction of bridges. After the reconstruction was completed, the Imperial bridge in Ulyanovsk and the coast were raised, the railway tracks were returned to the site, since then the road bridge began to work.
The last reconstruction of the Imperial Bridge in Ulyanovsk took seven years - from 2003 to 2010. The decision on reconstruction was made due to fatigue (aging) of the metal. The imperial bridge in Ulyanovsk was not closed to traffic at the time of the repair work.
In the fall of 2016, the old asphalt pavement was dismantled and a new one was laid. The closure of the Imperial Bridge in Ulyanovsk for repairs in 2016 was carried out at night, from 9 pm to 5 am.