Imperial Bridge in Ulyanovsk: photo, description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Imperial Bridge - road and rail crossing in the city of Ulyanovsk. It connects the banks of the Volga in the area of the Kuibyshev reservoir.

Specifications

The bridge has a beam structure with through trusses. The length of the main span is 158.5 m. Vehicle traffic is carried out in 2 lanes. The total length of the structure is 2111 m.

City buses No. 30, 30E and 46 pass through the bridge, as well as minibuses No. 2, 7, 72, 22, 84, 25, 78, 82, 28, 73 and 112.

History

The idea of building a bridge was voiced by Minister P. Stolypin after his visit to Simbirsk in 1910. The new crossing was supposed to connect the Volga-Bugulma and Moscow-Kazan railways. Construction began in 1913. The author of the project was N. A. Belelyubsky, as well as engineers A. P. Pshenitsky and O. A. Maddison. More than 3,500 specialists took part in the construction work, mainly representatives of working professions.

The commissioning of the Imperial (Nikolaev) bridge was delayed by two unforeseen incidents:

• July 7, 1914, a fire broke out, as a result of which 3 farms collapsed, and the first and second werepretty badly damaged. The reason was the negligence of workers who dropped a red-hot riveting into a pile of garbage. The damage amounted to 2 million rubles.
• On May 29-31, 1915, a landslide of the Simbirsk Mountain occurred, which also made it impossible to put a new crossing into operation according to a predetermined date.

It took workers almost 18 months to restore the Imperial Bridge. Its grand opening took place on October 5, 1916.

At the time when the first trains crossed the bridge, it was considered the greatest in Europe, and it was proudly shown to foreigners. Initially, the building was called "The Imperial Bridge of His Majesty Nicholas II." After the October Revolution, the railway crossing was renamed the Freedom Bridge. Eyewitness accounts have survived, according to which the workers who dismantled the plate with the old name of the structure refused to change it to a new one. They justified this decision by the fact that they are not going to do meaningless work every time because of the frequently changing political situation.

First reconstruction

After the opening of the Ulyanovsk (Imperial) bridge, it began to be intensively exploited. In this regard, by the middle of the 20th century, it needed reconstruction. In addition, due to the construction of the hydroelectric power station and the Kuibyshev reservoir, the level of the navigable horizon increased by 7-8 cm. It became necessary to strengthen the supports and the crossing. It was also decided tothe construction of the automobile part of the bridge, where the railway traffic was temporarily transferred for the period of reconstruction of the structure. The work was carried out over several years. Only in 1958 was the renovated and fortified Ulyanovsk (Imperial) bridge opened.

Accident of the ship "Alexander Suvorov"

There were also tragic situations in the history of the bridge. In particular, the most famous of the disasters occurred in the late evening of June 5, 1983. At 22:45, the tourist ship "Alexander Suvorov" collided with the sixth span of the Ulyanovsk bridge. As a result of the strongest blow, the cabin, chimneys and cinema hall were demolished near the passenger ship. Due to the accident, the span of the railway bridge shifted by 40 cm. By an unfortunate coincidence, at the same time, a freight train weighing 3.3 thousand tons, consisting of 53 wagons loaded with coal, followed the bridge at a speed of 70 km / h, grain and timber. As a result of the accident, 11 of them derailed and overturned. Part of the cargo fell off and fell on the ship. The accident killed 176 people.

In memory of this tragic event and its victims, a mournful Orthodox cross was erected on a small island under the Imperial Bridge.

Reconstruction in the new century

The bridge was once again closed for repairs for the period 2003-2010. The need for a new reconstruction was explained by metal fatigue. The work was entrusted to the construction company "Most". She was selected as the contractor for the work following a competition. Officially, it was believed that the complete closureThe Imperial Bridge was not produced. However, residents of Ulyanovsk remember that it was possible to get to the city center from the left bank during this period during the day only at certain hours.

As a result of the repair work, all pre-revolutionary structural elements of the bridge were replaced with new ones.

Spring 2016 renovations

Information that the Imperial Bridge will be closed, Ulyanovsk became known in the middle of spring. Then it was blocked on both sides from the intersection of the Dimitrovgrad highway with Zavodskoy passage and to the fork in the road in the direction of the Ulyanovsk river port. In addition, traffic was suspended on the descent to them. Stepan Razin.

Work was carried out intermittently from April 29 to May 9 at different hours, mainly on weekends and holidays, when traffic in the center of Ulyanovsk is less intense than usual.

Overhaul of the Imperial Bridge

And on August 22, 2016, the center of Ulyanovsk was blocked. This decision was made by the city authorities in connection with the need to repair the pavement of the Imperial Bridge. Crushed-stone-mastic asph alt concrete was laid.

In order for the citizens to experience the least possible inconvenience, the schedule for the closure of the Imperial Bridge was published in the local media. According to this schedule, the movement of vehicles from the center to the left bank and in the opposite direction was blocked daily from 9 pm to 5 am.

Presidential Bridge

Tellingabout the oldest railway-road crossing across the Volga in the Ulyanovsk region, it is impossible not to mention another similar facility, the first stage of which was put into operation in 2009. We are talking about the Presidential Bridge, which is currently the longest in the Russian Federation and one of the longest in Europe. It improved transport services for the residents of Ulyanovsk and the Volga region, and also made it possible to reduce transport costs for the delivery of goods to Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway. In addition, its appearance made it possible to unload the Imperial Bridge and provide communication between parts of the city during the repair period of the latter.

The only regular public transport route on the bridge is served by bus number 10.

Now you know, in connection with which in the summer and early autumn there were reports in the press that the Imperial Bridge in Ulyanovsk would be closed for repairs. It remains to be hoped that after the reconstruction it will last a long time without requiring frequent repairs, and the residents of the city will not experience the inconvenience associated with changing transport routes.