The depth of the Neva in St. Petersburg. Description of the river, interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Neva is one of the most majestic, large and wide rivers in Russia. Its history stretches from ancient times. What is the depth of the river? The Neva in St. Petersburg has different depths in separate sections. Often the reservoir changes its width. Therefore, the Neva is the most unstable river in the world. Sometimes these fluctuations make it very difficult to resist the headwind.

History of the river

The depth of the Neva is constantly changing in the course of the history of the reservoir. For example, the river delta in the 19th century had 48 channels and channels, forming 101 islands. In the 20th century, they were reduced, as well as reservoirs. As a result, only 41 islands remained. In ancient times, on the site of the Neva, there was a freshwater and closed Ancylus basin. And the river Tosna flowed nearby.

The depth of the Neva began to form along with the appearance of a reservoir. It all started with a watershed break. Ladoga waters reached the Gulf of Finland. And then, about 4500 years ago, the Neva was formed. The reservoir is classified as young. The final shape of the river took only 2500years ago.

The Vikings went through it to the Greeks. Neva was mentioned in the Life of Alexander Nevsky. The coastal lands of the river often changed owners. In the 18th century, the reservoir became part of the Russian Empire. In 1912, the depth of the Neva (Petersburg), which now reaches up to 24 meters, was very small. And only after 50 years did it begin to increase in its magnitude. Especially at the source of the reservoir.

Description of the reservoir

The length of the Neva is 74 kilometers, of which 32 kilometers are located on the territory of St. Petersburg. The average width of the reservoir is from 200 to 400 m. And the most significant part reaches 1250 meters. This section of the river is located at the Nevsky Gates, in the delta. The narrowest width is 210 m, at the source of the Ivanovsky rapids and Cape Svyatka.

How deep is the Neva? It is different, depending on the area where part of the reservoir is located. For example, at the Ivanovsky rapids, the depth of the river reaches four meters, and at the Liteiny Bridge - up to twenty-four meters. The banks of the Neva go deep immediately, but they are not very steep. Thanks to this, watercraft can come close to the shore and moor.

The area of the Neva is 281 thousand square kilometers. On the territory of the reservoir there are 50,000 lakes and 60,000 rivers flow with a total length of 160 thousand kilometers. The Neva originates from the Shlisselburg Bay. Then the river, reaching the Gulf of Finland, forms a large delta. St. Petersburg is located at the mouth of the Neva. Thanks to the river, the city, which has many channels, received the name "Northern Venice".

Geographic characteristics

Neva is the only riverflowing from Lake Ladoga. The widest delta is in the seaport area. This value remains the same up to the area where the Ivanovskiye rapids end. And also where R. The Tesna flows into the Neva. Its narrowest point is at the beginning of the Ivanovsky rapids. There the width of the river is only 210 meters. The second bottleneck is between the Palace and Lieutenant Schmidt bridges. There, the width of the Neva is only 340 meters. If taken in general terms, then the average is from 400 to 600 meters.

The depth of the Neva in St. Petersburg fluctuates depending on the location. On average, this value is from 8-11 meters. The deepest place is 24 meters. And the smallest indicator is four meters. The height of the banks is from 5 to 6 meters, and at the mouth - from 2 to 3 meters. There are practically no gentle banks that go smoothly under water on the Neva River.

Basins and tributaries

The area of the river basin is approximately 5,000 square kilometers. But this is without including the Ladoga and Onega reservoirs in the value. If we take the value together with them, then the area of \u200b\u200bthe Neva will be 281,000 square kilometers. The main right tributaries are the Black River and the Okhta. Left side:

• Slavyanka;
• Murzinka;
• Tosna;
• Izhora;
• Mga.

Bridges

On the Neva, almost all bridges are drawbridges. This action is carried out at night, for the passage of water vessels. In total, there are thirteen drawbridges on the Neva, ten of which are raised daily. This is done according to a specific schedule. In 2004 was openedthe first and only fixed bridge. It was named Bolshoi Obukhovsky. Its length is 2824 meters.

Modern Neva

In 2004 a new bridge was opened on the Ring Road across the Neva. In 2007, the "twin" of the structure was put into operation. And in January of the same year, traffic was opened along it. The greatest depth of the Neva is twenty-four meters. And there are no large shallows in any place of the reservoir. Passenger water transportation has been established on the Neva. Most often, tourist boats float on the reservoir.

Today, one of the main purposes of the river is the water supply of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Approximately 95 percent of the water is taken from the Neva for these needs. It is carefully processed at the city's five waterworks.

Fishing on the Neva

Fishing is developed on the Neva. Smelt comes from the Gulf of Finland to spawn. And in the upper part of the Neva salmon is perfectly caught. Fishermen have chosen Kutuzov Embankment. In this place you can catch arctic char, eel, trout and asp. On the Quay named after Lieutenant Schmidt, you can catch:

• starlet;
• brook trout;
• grayling;
• salmon;
• pike;
• bream;
• burbot;
• som.

Also popular places for fishermen are the area near the Peter and Paul Fortress and Pirogovskaya embankment. Sometimes very large fish are caught. Pike are caught up to 15 kilograms, and pike perch - up to 8 kg.

Interesting facts

Starting from 1895-1910 ice on the Neva served as a winter crossing,which connected Vasilyevsky Island with other districts of St. Petersburg. And in 1936, a reinforced concrete bridge was thrown across the river. He was named Volodarsky.

Neva is characterized not only by the White Nights, but also by floods. During the construction of St. Petersburg, the flooding of the city was considered retribution and God's punishment. And the chronicles say that the water rose up to 25 feet. For a long time it was not possible to establish the cause of such phenomena. The construction of channels has begun so that water can flow into the channels.

As a result, the depth of the Neva was constantly changing. The water level dropped for a while. The excavated soil was used for building foundations. In 1777, the Neva flooded very strongly, and after that the construction of channels began. But these channels did not greatly affect the water level and became mainly transport arteries.

Only at the end of the 19th century, scientists were able to establish the cause of the floods. It turned out that the high waves of the B altic Sea fall into the Neva and raise its level by two and a half meters. And when the wind is up to four meters. Therefore, the depth of the Neva depends on many factors. To protect St. Petersburg from catastrophic floods, construction began on a dam in 1979.

She passed through Kronstadt and connected the shores of the Gulf of Finland. But the construction was soon frozen for a while. There were not enough funds. And the dam began to be completed only in 2006. It went into operation in 2011. Now, even when the Neva rises to a critical four meters, the city of St. Petersburg remains underprotection. The dam is designed to raise the water level up to five meters.