Bridges of St. Petersburg

[Edward]

Text from
http://www.cityvision2000.com

St. Petersburg has the largest number of bridges among all the world's cities. There are 539 bridges (315 in the downtown area alone). Even Venice, Stockholm or Amsterdam can't beat that. After all, you can't have "A City on 101 Islands" (St. Petersburg) without so many bridges.

The first bridge in St. Petersburg was built in 1703, in the first year of the city's history. The bridge connected the Peter and Paul Fortress with the rest of the city.

The longest bridge in St. Petersburg is Alexander Nevsky Bridge (Most Aleksandra Nevskovo) - 2971' 5'' (905.7 meters) long.

The widest bridge in St. Petersburg (and in the world) is the Blue Bridge (Siniy Most) - 319' 2'' ( 97.3 meters) wide.

The narrowest bridge in St. Petersburg (excluding bridges in parks and gardens) is the Bank Bridge (Bankovskii Most) - only 6' 1'' (1.85 meters) wide.

The first permanent bridge across the mighty Neva River is currently called the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge (Most Leitenanta Schmidta) and was built in 1842-1850.

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Text from
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/

Finally, if you're thinking of relying on transport other than the Metro (which you will have to do if you are much of a night owl), one note you will want to remember is BEWARE THE BRIDGES -- which are raised at night at varying times to let boats through. Stories abound of people being marooned all night in bars & discos -- with their respective bridges only to open in the wee-hours of the morning. And while this provides for colorful conversation at times, it can get old...

Schedule *-- The following bridges (mosty) will be open and inaccessible at these times:

Most Alexander Nevskogo: 2:35 - 4:50 a.m.
Liteyny Most: 2:10 - 4:40 a.m.
Bolshoy Okhtinsky Most: 2:45 - 4:45 a.m.
Dvortsovy Most: 1:35 - 3:05 and 3:15 - 4:45 a.m.
Troitsky Most: 2:00 - 4:40 a.m.
Tuchkov Most: 2:20 - 3:10 and 3:40 - 4:40 a.m.
Most Leytenanta Shmidta: 1:55 - 4:50 a.m.
Most Birzhevoy: 2:25 - 3:10 and 3:40 - 4:40 a.m.

The bridges are not a problem in the wintertime -- when the river is frozen and impassable to boats, making raising the bridges unnecessary. However, there are a few tales to the contrary. Schedules also may change during the White Nights season around midsummer.

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Troitsky bridge (currently undergoing renovations) on 11 july 2002.





Bankovsky bridge -- pedestrian bridge over the Canal Griboedova.