Raising bridges in Saint Petersburg (lifting bridges St. Petersburg)

Updated: 09.02.2023
Yulia Klaos

Bridge building (bridge building or bridge building) is one of the most famous and vivid sights of St. Petersburg.

To see such a famous divorce of the St. Petersburg bridges has already become something like a ritual.

First of all, they build bridges to ensure navigation on the Neva River, creating the necessary conditions for navigation. Despite this, the process of building bridges has become a popular attraction in St. Petersburg.

The bridges in St. Petersburg are laid across the Bolshaya Neva, Malaya Neva and Neva.

In total, there are 18 drawbridges in St. Petersburg - those that still have their drawbridges in working order. Of these, 9 bridges are regularly built during the navigation period, and three more are built according to preliminary requests.

Bridges that are built regularly: Dvortsovy, Troitsky, Blagoveshchensky, Liteyny, Bolsheokhtinsky, Volodarsky, Birzhevoy, Tuchkov and Alexander Nevsky Bridge.

Bridges that are built on preliminary applications: Sampsonievsky, Grenadier and Kantemirovsky.

Time of bridge laying in Saint Petersburg

Bridges in St. Petersburg are built regularly, annually - from April to November, at night.

The first is the bridge that is the most popular and whose photos can be seen on many postcards and souvenirs of St. Petersburg - the Palace Bridge on the Bolshaya Neva.

Then the following bridges are built: Troitsky, Blagoveshchensky and Liteyny bridges; Bolsheokhtinsky, Volodarsky, Birzhevoy and Tuchkov bridges are built at the same time; the Alexander Nevsky Bridge is built last.

The bridge construction starts at about one o'clock in the morning (01: 10) and ends at about 02: 20 at night.

Some of the bridges can be opened and repaired several times during the night.

The bridges are built exactly on schedule. But they can build a bridge earlier than the schedule, when all the ships will pass. In some cases, the second wiring of a particular bridge may also be canceled. For this reason, if you want to see the bridge layout, we advise you to focus on the time of the first bridge layout.

Attention! The time of the divorce and the arch of the bridges may vary. We recommend that you check the current information on the official website before planning a visit to the bridge layout. We do not recommend updating the schedule on any third-party sites, even if they assure that this is the most up - to-date information.

The official website of the divorce and arch of bridges in St. Petersburg: mostotrest-spb.ru.

How to view the bridge construction in St. Petersburg

Modern hydraulics allow you to completely separate each of the bridges in 2-5 minutes, for the same time the bridge is bridged.

The most popular way to see the bridge layout is to come to the embankment, stand near the bridge and admire the layout from the river bank. The option, I must admit, is good, quite interesting and free. The embankments and the bridges themselves are illuminated by lanterns , so everything is clearly visible from the embankments. And, if you are not a "fan" of such spectacles, then such an arrangement for viewing the wiring of bridges will be quite enough.

For those who want to see the bridges from the ground (embankments), you must choose the bridge (or bridges) in advance, the divorce of which you want to see, and come to the embankment at the time of the divorce of the bridge.

No matter how much you would like it, but you will not be able to see the divorce of all 9 bridges at one time, either independently or with any of the excursions, since several of the bridges are raised at the same time, and they are located at a fairly remote distance from each other.

The most popular bridge is the Palace Bridge, which is the first one to be built. Most people come to see the divorce of this bridge. The Palace and Admiralteiskaya embankments can be so crowded that they can't be crowded. People sometimes come about 40 minutes before the bridge is opened.

On the University embankment (Vasilievsky Island), there are usually fewer people.

But ... the Palace Bridge is built in the center (the central span of the bridge), high above the water level, so if you do not get up for the first time on the embankment, then from this point you will see the bridge well enough.

How to see the divorce of several bridges on your own

1. The most popular option is to see the draw of three bridges: Dvortsovy, Troitsky and Liteyny.

Stand on the Palace Embankment between the Palace and Trotsky Bridges, so that the Palace Bridge is clearly visible, since it is built first.

See the divorce and move quickly, preferably running, to the Trinity Bridge. You will find the bridge's drawbridge just somewhere along the way. It can be seen well.

Then move quickly to the Liteyny Bridge and watch its divorce in all its glory.

If by car, then you can have time to see the wiring of the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge and(or) the Alexander Nevsky Bridge. Rent a car in Saint Petersburg (all places) →

2. Stand on the Admiralty Embankment, closer to the Palace Bridge. See the divorce of the Palace Bridge and move to the Blagoveshchensk Bridge.

This method will allow you to see the separation of two bridges.

3. Find a convenient place on the University Embankment (Vasilyevsky Island), See the divorce of the Palace Bridge, then the Blagoveshchensk Bridge and move to the Exchange Bridge.

If you manage to reach the point between the Exchange and the Tuchkov Bridge, you can simultaneously see the separation of two bridges. The distance between the bridges is about 1 kilometer. Bridges are built at the same time (there may be changes in the schedule of bridge construction, we recommend that you check before visiting).

This method will allow you to see the divorce of three (four) bridges.

Bridge crossing inspection with guided tours

You can view the bridges from the water with one of the excursions. It is this way of viewing the drawbridge is considered the most interesting and romantic.

River cruises on drawbridges are arranged both on large ships and on smaller boats.

By the time of the divorce, many excursion ships are approaching the bridges, each of which needs to take a better place.

There are so many tourists on the big excursion ships that when the bridge is opened, people rush to the open deck in a crowd, and there is a stampede, worse than on the Palace Embankment. On such vessels, for personal comfort, it is better to take VIP seats with a separate exit to the open deck.

Some excursion ships, not yet waiting for the end of the divorce of one bridge, already turn around and go to the other-to catch the next divorce and also take a better place.

Р.S. Be that as it may, you should not take the inspection of the drawbridge too seriously. Still, this is just an attraction that can become quite fun: when your ship is rushing at speed to the next bridge, while trying to overtake the "competitors"; or when you are a little squeezed on the embankment or on the deck, and you see the bridge with one eye, and the other-a person standing next to you. Or maybe you are running as fast as you can along the embankment along the river, deftly maneuvering between numerous people, your hair is blown by the wind, your heart is pounding madly, and you dream of having time to see the draw of the next bridge - and after all, you have time... or not....

What's the difference - we relax and have fun!

Construction of drawbridges in Saint Petersburg

Drawbridges of St. Petersburg differ in design - each crossing has its own characteristics.

Bridges are not built entirely, but only their drawbridges.

The drawbridges of the Neva river crossings can be single-winged, as in the Troitsky, Liteyny, Volodarsky, Grenadier and Kantemirovsky bridges, or double-winged, as in all other bridges.

In the extended position, the wings of the bridges are raised up. Also, lights and tram tracks (if any) located on the drawbridges of the bridges go up together with the bridge.

YThe central span of the Palace bridge is divided.

The movable double - wing span of the Palace Bridge is one of the largest in the world-it has a width of 56.5 meters. The weight of the metal span structures of the bridge is 4868 tons, counterweights-2800 tons. Learn more about the Palace Site...

YThe last span of the Trinity Bridge is built on the left bank (near the Palace Embankment).

Adjustable single-wing span metal all-welded with a fixed axis of rotation and a rigidly fixed counterweight. The opening of the draw span is 43 meters in the light. The wiring is carried out using a hydraulic system. Learn more about the Trinity Bridge...

YLiteyny Bridge is built on the second span from the left bank (at the embankments of Kutuzov and Voskresenskaya).

The adjustable span is single-winged of the opening type, length-55.4 meters, weight-3325 tons. When laying the bridge, it rises at an angle of 67 degrees in 4 minutes.

Double-winged flightThe Blagoveshchensk Bridge is built in the middle.

The weight of the wings of the adjustable span is 597 tons each. The wings of the draw span of the bridge are supported on the ends of the trusses of the permanent spans. The counterweights are made using lead blocks.

The exchange bridge is built in the middle.

The draw span is a metal all-welded dipter with a fixed axis of rotation. The counterweights are fixed on hinges.

The Exchange Bridge is bred using an electromechanical drive. This is one of the few drawbridges in St. Petersburg, where there is a similar mechanism, most of the bridges have already switched to a modern hydraulic system. The control panel is located in the left-bank support of the draw span.

The draw mechanism of the Exchange Bridge has no analogues in the world: at the beginning of the wiring, the bridge opens by 15 centimeters, and the wings roll away from each other. The center of gravity of the wing changes, which greatly facilitates the layout.

Tuchkov Bridge is bred in the middle.

The adjustable span is a two-wing opening system with a fixed axis of rotation, with rigidly attached counterweights. The superstructure is all - welded metal, in the closed state-a beam-cantilever system.

The peculiarity of the wings of the Tuchkov Bridge is that in the divorced and induced position they are not fixed by any additional devices, except for the locked spool.

Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge has a two-wing drawbridge system in the middle.

A movable superstructure with a fixed axis of rotation. The size of the side spans is 136 meters each, and the drawbridge is 48 meters.

The Alexander Nevsky Bridge is built in the middle, the system is two-winged.

This is the longest of the drawbridges in St. Petersburg. Its length is 629 meters, and together with the coastal structures is 907.7 meters.

The height of the draw span of the Alexander Bridge is 11 meters, the width is 50 meters. The wiring is carried out by means of a hydraulic drive.

The two wings of the bridge rise in just two minutes.

Volodarsky Bridge is built in the middle.

The draw span is a single-wing drop-down system with a fixed axis of rotation, with rigidly attached counterweights. Its length is 57 meters.

The movable span structure is a single metal structure consisting of four main beams connected on top by an orthotropic plate with ribs. The bridge is laid out using a hydraulic drive.