St. Petersburg is unthinkable without bridges. Mostly tourists come here to take a walk along the romantic Neva embankments or ride along the canals in a pleasure boat. And even more. Tourists specially get up in the middle of the night to look at the layout of bridges and how impressively large ships sail under them. However, these transport routes connecting various shores cause many problems to the inhabitants of Northern Palmyra themselves. Motorists are especially nervous because the bridges of St. Petersburg (2014 was a record year in this regard) were constantly and often unpredictably closed for repairs. And what does the near future prophesy for us? Which of the three hundred bridges of St. Petersburg will be closed for reconstruction? And what will be the wiring schedule of the thirteen that oversized vessels pass into the Neva and its numerous sleeves? In this article we will only talk about Tuchkovy Bridge. Its history, name, location and even the wiring schedule will be described here.
Location
A more accurate location of this structure is Russia, St. Petersburg. The Tuchkov Bridge connects both banks of the Malaya Neva. It is laid from Bolshoy Prospect of the Petrograd Side to Kadetskaya Street and First Line of Vasilyevsky Island. Find this bridge on a map of St. Petersburg is quite simple. He abuts against Makarov embankment on Vasilyevsky Island. And on the Petrograd side, it is adjacent to Dobrolyubov and Bolshoi avenues. Zhdanovskaya embankment also goes to him . The metro station closest to Tuchkov Bridge is called Sportivnaya. The name of the stop of the St. Petersburg subway was not accidental. In the vicinity are the Petrovsky Stadium and the Yubileiny Sports Palace. But when the metro was built, the station was thought to be called the Tuchkov Bridge. But it did not work out. Near the bridge are also other attractions of the northern capital - Prince Vladimir Cathedral and Tuchkov Buyan Island.
origin of name
With regard to the emergence of an interesting name for the bridge, historians have three equal versions. This building was built in the mid-eighteenth century. The bridge had the official name "Nikolsky" for a long time, but the rumor persistently called him Tuchkov. It would be most reasonable to assume that he received his name in honor of the island through which it runs. However, there is an opinion that Tuchkov Buyan got its name from the bridge, and not vice versa. One of the engineers who erected this crossing (wooden at that time) in the 18th century was a certain A. V. Tuchkov. The bridge could also be named after the name of a merchant who had timber stores on the banks of the Malaya Neva. In 1758, four entrepreneurs, among whom was Abraham Tuchkov, filed a petition to the Senate to transfer several bridges to them for “hereditary maintenance”. For this, they pledged to connect Vasilyevsky Island with the Petrograd side.
Construction history
The artel of four entrepreneurs kept its word, and already in the same 1758, on the alignment of Maly Prospect on Vasilyevsky Island, the Nikolsky Bridge appeared. It was wooden. At a depth, it was made up of a die part, and in shallow water it rested on piles. Its length was nine hundred meters, which made it the longest bridge in St. Petersburg. In 1835 it was rebuilt. An earthen dam from Dobrolyubov Avenue (then called Aleksandrovsky) was brought up. Tuchkov bridge then became movable. The moving part consisted of four wooden frames. The bridge was built using conventional hand winches. This wooden structure burned to the ground in 1870 from criminal negligence: someone threw a cigarette butt. Immediately began work on the construction of a new bridge. In 1920 it was rebuilt into a twenty-span. Immediately after the war, the wooden parts were replaced by metal. The distributing winches began to work from electricity. The bridge survived another reconstruction in 1960. Only one of the twenty spans was adjustable, even under two small vessels could safely navigate.
What does Tuchkov Bridge look like today
In 1964, the Mariinsky system was replaced by a more advanced Volga-Baltic Canal. The adoption of a new decision for the admission of large-tonnage vessels is ripe Therefore, the bridge was again closed for reconstruction. It was conducted by the engineers of the Lengiproinzhproekt enterprise B. B. Levin and V. V. Demchenko according to the project of famous Soviet architects L. A. Noskov and P. A. Areshev. Then the Tuchkov bridge acquired, repair, or rather, the complete reconstruction of which was completed in 1965, a modern look. The number of spans was reduced from twenty to three. Only one of them - in the middle - adjustable. Now trams, cars, pedestrians walk across the bridge. Naturally, for the safety of machines and people, the structure is sometimes closed for repairs. And this is confusing the movement of public and private transport.
Bridge layout
St. Petersburg cannot be called Venice. Large vessels strive to get into the depths of the city center, and they are not limited to only parking at the seaport. Therefore, when the navigation period begins, which lasts until November, at the end of April, ships must be skipped. Some of them pass under the spans and so, but especially large ocean liners still require more space. That’s what the bridges are doing at night. St. Petersburg has as many as thirteen. These are the Annunciation, Volodarsky, Tuchkov, to which this article is devoted, and others. Tourists flock to the bridges to see this action. However, for Petersburgers this is sheer hassle. In 2005, the Bolshoi Obukhov bridge was built, on which you can constantly get from one coast to another. However, it is located too far from the center. Sometimes it is more profitable to wait for the resumption of movement on some bridge than to get out onto the bypass line.
Wiring schedule
Fortunately for Petersburgers and unfortunately for tourists, beautiful drawbridges only open their lifting parts at night. This sight is especially beautiful in the summer, at the time of white nights. But when is it necessary to approach the Tuchkov bridge to admire it? Also, the schedule of lifting the moving part of the structure is interested in motorists who are thinking of driving through Tuchkov bridge. The wiring is carried out twice a night. For the first time, traffic stops at exactly two hours. The flights fall into place only at 2:55, that is, for almost an hour you can admire how large ships pass along the Malaya Neva. The second time the wiring is carried out from half past three to five in the morning.
The value of Tuchkova bridge
For St. Petersburg, this highway is strategically important. All enterprises located on Vasilievsky Island do not have access to the railway, and therefore the only way to deliver raw materials and export products is via Tuchkov bridge. But not only trucks create intense traffic flow. The bridge leads to the Krestovsky, Kamenny and Elagin islands - the favorite vacation spots of residents of St. Petersburg. Initially, this structure was not designed for such a traffic flow, and therefore the highway was often reconstructed and expanded. Authorities warn in advance when the passage through it will be closed. Tuchkov bridge is also being reconstructed for aesthetic reasons. So, in 2003, the backlight was brought to him, which made him unique.
Will it be possible to admire Tuchkovy Bridge in 2015
Intensive traffic flow negatively affected the road surface. Last year, this important highway was repeatedly closed for repairs. Sometimes only one-way traffic was permitted . But at the end of September, the passage was completely closed. Tuchkov bridge local authorities intend to reconstruct this year. In order to avoid transport collapse during the communication of Vasilievsky Island with the Petrograd side, it was decided to leave one-way traffic - towards the city center. You can get back on the Birzhevoy bridge. At the same time, the width of the carriageway on Tuchkovoy will be only eleven meters. They plan to close the highway in May 2015, after the construction of the second exit from the Sportivnaya metro station is completed. Tuchkov Bridge, the repair of which will cost the treasury 2.4 billion rubles, will not be fully opened until the end of 2016.
Parameters
Despite the fact that the structure is made of reinforced concrete, it gives the impression of airiness. The bridge seems to soar above the waters of the Neva. It consists of three spans, one of which, fifty meters long, opens up. The total length of the bridge is more than two hundred meters, and the width is 36 m.