Struve Railroad Bridge
The Struve Railroad Bridge (Russian: Железнодорожный мост Струве), was the first all-metal railroad bridge over the Dnieper that existed from 1855 to 1920 in Kiev. The bridge was one of the longest in the empire, yielding in length only to the bridges in Syzran and Yekaterinoslav.
Struve Railroad Bridge Железнодорожный мост Струве | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°24′59″N 30°35′09″E |
| Crosses | Dnieper |
| Locale | Kiev, Russian Empire |
| Official name | Railroad Bridge of Amand Struve |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Truss bridge |
| Total length | 1,068 metres (3,504 ft) |
| Longest span | 89 metres (292 ft) |
| History | |
| Construction start | March 1868 |
| Construction end | February 1870 |
| Opened | February 17, 1870 |
| Closed | June 1920 (destroyed) |
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History
It was the second stationary bridge over Dnieper with the construction supervision conducted personally by Amand Struve. This railroad truss bridge was initially named after its constructor, engineer Struve. Standing on 13 piers, it consisted of dozen 292-feet-long sections resulting in size of some 480 sazhens (1440 fathoms). During the construction Struve first in the Russian Empire used caisson method to lay the foundation. For its construction was used 243 pood of iron (3,000 tonnes). Each of the sections were tested to hold 18,000 pood. The total cost of the project round-up to be 3,200 thousands rubles. For the construction of the bridge Captain Struve was promoted to Colonel. During this period of time (1860s-1870s) Struve was involved in various other construction projects as well, such as the installation and improvement of the city's utilities network.
On February 17, 1870 the first train by the Kiev-Kursk Railways company crossed the bridge to the Kiev railroad station. However the constant traffic was officially opened on April 4, 1870 after the consecration of the bridge. Similarly to the Nicholas Chain Bridge, the Struve Bridge survived the Great and Civil wars and was blown up in 1920 by the retreating Polish troops (see: Kiev Offensive).
Today next to the former Struve's bridge stands the newly built Darnytsia Railroad Bridge.
See also
Bibliography
- Rybakov, M.O. Unknown and not-well-known pages of the Kiev's history. "Kyi". Kiev, 1997.
- Anisimov, A. Sad ignorance. "Tabachuk Ltd." Kiev, 1992.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Struve Railway Bridge. |
- Bridge profile at wek.kiev.ua
- Struve's biography in Mirror Weekly