Description of the attraction
Pevchesky Bridge is a striking representative of bridges-squares, which are very often found in the historical center of St. Petersburg. The Pevchesky Bridge crosses the Moika and, as it were, continues the Palace Square, connecting the 2nd Admiralteisky and Kazansky Islands. It is an object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Pevchesky Bridge is the fourth widest bridge in St. Petersburg (after Kazansky, Aptekarsky and Blue). The bridge is 72 meters wide and 24 meters wide.
The first bridge on this site was built of wood in 1834 according to the design of Montferrand. Its main purpose is the passage to the Palace Square of the troops that participated in the parade at the opening of the Alexander Column. The bridge's railings were originally painted yellow. That is why this bridge was originally called Yellow.
In 1839-1840. at the end of the Palace Square ensemble, a new arched, cast-iron bridge in one span was built instead of a wooden bridge, designed by engineer Adam E. A. on the initiative of the Minister of Finance Kankrin. During the construction of the bridge, communication between the banks of the river was carried out using a boat ferry.
The span of the new bridge was a cast-iron arch, which consisted of 329 wedge-shaped boxes-caissons, which were bolted together. It was the bolted joints of the structures that after some time turned out to be the most vulnerable elements of the structure: a year after the bridge was put into operation, about 27 nuts and 50 bolts were looted, which the townspeople twisted for domestic use. A brick vault was installed on top of the cast-iron arch, the piles were made of wood, on which the supports of rubble masonry were installed, faced with pink granite.
The roadway of the structure was covered with gray-pink quartzite-sandstone mined at Lake Onega (Brusninskoe deposit). The railings were cast openwork gratings made of cast iron. The lattice of the bridge is a unique artistic casting, reminiscent of the finest work of lace with a pattern in the form of a fan. The main element of the pattern is repeating palmettes.
The ceremonial opening of the bridge took place on November 24, 1840. Emperor Nicholas I himself was the first to experience it, having driven along it in a carriage and opening the crossing for traffic and pedestrians.
Together with its new appearance, the bridge received a new name. Now it began to be called the Singing. This name came from the fact that the bridge directly rested against the gates of the court Singing Chapel, which was the center of the capital's musical culture.
They say that the place for this bridge was chosen by Nicholas I. The legend says: Earlier on the Moika embankment, 24, lived Count Yuri Alexandrovich Golovkin, who was related to the emperor's family. Once, when the count was invited to a royal dinner at the Winter Palace, he was in such a hurry that, getting into the boat, he stumbled and fell into the water. In this regard, the count had to return home. The emperor, without waiting for Golovkin for dinner, came to him himself. The very next day, after the incident, Nicholas I and his wife again visited a relative. During the visit, the sovereign proposed to build a bridge here to prevent such incidents on the water.
In 1937, the cobblestones of the Pevchesky Bridge roadway were covered with a layer of asphalt.
In 2003, due to the unsatisfactory condition of the bridge, the specialists of the Intarsia and Lenmostostroy firms began its complete reconstruction. For the first time in its history, the bridge has undergone a fairly serious overhaul. The waterproofing of the arch of the bridge and the bolted connections were broken, the foundations and vaults of the arches were significantly deformed, and cracks appeared in the cast-iron blocks. During the reconstruction, with the help of bored piles, the supports of the bridge were strengthened, the geometry of the vault was leveled, the blocks of the cast-iron arch vault were repaired, and the lost cast-iron elements of the facades were also restored. Due to the powerful reinforced concrete superstructure, which was arranged on top of the cast-iron vault, the carrying capacity of the bridge was increased. A new roadway was completed.
