Have you ever been to St. Petersburg? If so, try to complement the text with your own information.

Tsar Peter the Great restricted bridging his young capital in spite of the fact that the Neva River, being between 350 and 650 m wide, flows 13 km within the city limits. He wanted to speed up the development of his marine and merchant fleets. Nevertheless, there were some timber and floating bridges because the city, sprawling over the numerous islets of the Neva River Delta, was badly in need of them. The first floating bridge over the Neva was constructed in 1727. Like other early temporary bridges, it was made of rows of anchored barges tied together, which obstructed free shipping. As the water level in the river could considerably rise due to strong winds blowing in from the sea, the barges could be carried away or crushed by ice. A flourishing age of Russian bridge engineering began in 1762 with the establishment of the Bridge and Road Department. Soon more than three hundred bridges had been built across the many canals and river channels including timber, masonry, floating and cast iron structures, and St. Petersburg earned the reputation of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Hermitage, Winter and Prachechny bridges were reputed to be among the world’s finest examples of such structures.

At present, there are 360 bridges in the city and together with those in the suburbs, the figure will be 600. Each bridge has its own individual appearance but taken together they give the impression of one harmonious whole. Some, like the Liteiny Bridge are known for their wrought-iron bridge railings, others are graced with sculptural groups. The most attractive bridges are in the parks of Tsarskoye Selo, over the Fountanka River and the Griboedov Canal. Some of the bridges over the canals are so narrow that only two persons can walk abreast. The medieval-looking three-span bridges with massive stone towers were built in the 18^th century. Currently towers decorate only the Lomonosov and the Old-Kalinkin Bridges, the rest of them have been rebuilt and broadened. Some suspension bridges, built between 1820 and 1840, including the graceful Lion, Pochtamptsky and Bankovsky Bridges, have survived. The latter is a footbridge adorned with gilt winged lion-griffins. The supporting chains come out of the animals’ jaws making the bridge unique.

About thirty St. Petersburg bridges are world-famous structures put under state protection. The Anichkov Bridge over the Fountanka River (fig. 5.1), being part of our national heritage, is one of them. In 1715, the Admiralty engineer battalion under the command of M. Anichkov built a wooden three-span drawbridge about six metres wide. It was constructed on a pile foundation. In 1841, the old structure was replaced with an arch masonry bridge, as wide as Nevsky Prospect was, with four towers on the corners, decorated with sculptures by Pavel Klodt. The sculptural group represents a youth thrown to the ground, then rising on his knee while trying to tame a rearing horse. At last, the untamed energy of the animal comes under control, as the youth becomes steady on his legs, and finally the horse obeys the youth’s will.

Not very far off, there is the Egyptian Bridge decorated with four sphinxes. Heavy chains, spanning the towers, support its 54-metre span. In winter of 1905 the bridge, which was 80 years old, collapsed. A cavalry squadron crossing the Fountanka River caused the disaster. The natural occurrence of bridge vibrations and the impact of the horses’ hooves were in accord and resulted in a resonance condition powerful enough to bring the whole structure down. Moreover, metal bridge elements lost their strength under frost. This destructive condition is called metal cold brittleness. Fifty years later, the bridge was rebuilt.

Exercises:

Remember the meaning of the following words and word combinations:

An anchor, a row of barges, numerous islets, flourishing bridge age, frequency of impact, natural frequency, iron cold brittleness, a gulf.

Answer the following questions:

1. Why did Peter the Great restrict bridge building in St. Petersburg?

2. When did the flourishing bridge age start?

3. What old bridges in the central part of the city can you name?

4. What famous bridges were built over the Fountanka River?

5. Do you know why the Egyptian Bridge collapsed?