Description of the attraction
The Red Bridge is a federal historical and architectural monument. It is the only one of the four "colored" bridges across the Moika River, built according to the standard design of the architect William (Vasily Ivanovich) Geste (1753-1832), preserved in its original form to this day. By the way, the Red Bridge is unique not only for the preservation of its architecture, but also for its “colored” name. The rest of the colored bridges of the Moika have lost their original appearance, and one of them has been renamed: Yellow Bridge is now Pevchesky. The Blue and Green bridges retain their name, along with the Red Bridge, but, unfortunately, their original architecture has been lost. Today the lower "water" part and railings of the bridges have been painted.
The very fact of the appearance of "colored" bridges is curious. The fact is that four such bridges of the same type were built across the Moika in St. Petersburg. They were located close to each other and the inhabitants often confused them. It was decided to eliminate this inconvenience with the help of color.
The Red Bridge connects the 2nd Admiralteisky and Kazansky Islands and is the border between the Admiralteysky and Central regions of St. Petersburg. Red - pedestrian and road bridge; by design type it is single-span, made of double-hinged welded arches (with a steel arched main span). Its total length today is 42 meters, the width between the railings is 16.8 meters.
Initially, the bridge on the Moika appeared in 1717 and was called, oddly enough, Bely. It was a wooden drawbridge, painted white. This is where its name comes from.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1737 by the Dutch engineer Hermann van Boles. In order to pass the mast ships under the bridge, in one of the spans a slot 70 cm wide was built, which, if necessary, was closed with removable shields. In 1778 the bridge was repainted and renamed Red in accordance with the new color. During the next reconstruction at the end of the 18th century, the bridge became three-span.
During the reconstruction of 1808-1814, according to the project of engineer William Geste, the bridge becomes cast-iron, single-span, has an arched structure with a hingeless vault. New cast-iron structures of the bridge were made at Demidov's factories in the Urals. The stone pillars of the bridge are faced with granite. For the railings, a cast-iron lattice was used, the pattern of which repeats the pattern of the metal fence of the embankment. The lighting of the bridge was also changed: obelisks were erected, made of granite with tetrahedral lanterns suspended from them, suspended on metal brackets. To date, the obelisks with lanterns have been restored and have their original appearance, and the railings of the bridge separating the roadway from the sidewalk have not been reconstructed and have survived from earlier times.
In the period from 1953 to 1954. The cast iron structures of the Red Bridge were replaced by arched steel structures (designed by engineer V. Blazhevich): the bridge span was made of seven metal double-hinged arches connected by transverse beams and longitudinal ties. At the same time, the appearance of the bridge is completely preserved. At the same time, under the leadership of an architect, a member of the Union of Architects of the USSR, Alexander Lukich Rotach (1893-1990), the granite obelisks of the Red Bridge were recreated in their original form; between the sidewalks and the roadway, the old cast-iron railings have been restored, similar to the railings of the Moika River embankment adjacent to the bridge. The facades of the bridge have a traditional red color.
The next restoration of the bridge, during which the lanterns were repaired, the cast-iron and granite fencing was restored, was carried out in 1998.
