Sightseeing

TUCHKOV BRIDGE Spanning thee Maly Neva River and connecting the city's largest Island - Vasilyevsky Island with central St. Petersburg, the Tuchkov Bridge nowadays is the widest of the city's bridges (length of 216 meters and the width of 36 meters between railings) and it is one of the busiest city bridges due to its location on the route to popular local destinations including Krestovsky, Yelagin and Kamenny Islands and the Karelian Peninsula. Named after famous contractor and timber merchant Avraam Tuchkov whose warehouses were located nearby and also financed the building of Tuchkov Bridge, the pontoon bridge was initially made of wood in 1758 and put in place mounted on wooden piles; it used to be also the longest bridge built in the Northern capital in the 18th century, but in the course of the time it was shortened and reconstructed several times. For instance, between 1833 and 1835 a many-bayed wooden bridge was built with one opening bay (modern bridge has 20 bays granite piers with granite parapets and there are granite steps from the bridge down to the water), and the most significant restoration was fulfilled in 1962-1965 when there appeared three reinforced concrete spans with a 50 meter wide draw span made of durable welded steel material and located in the middle of the Maly Neva River which was flanked on each side by 73 meter long spans thus allowing vessels to pass through underneath.Designed by architects P. Areshev and L. Noskov, the Tuchkov Bridge features a simple and strict style and unlike most of Petersburg bridges it is deprived of lavish decoration. The only claim to fame in this matter is Areshev's unique thin winding and curving metal railings and the round and petit pavilion standing on the right bank of the Maly Neva River.

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