Blue Bridge

The Blue Bridge is not just a bridge.

This is a bridge square. The size of the Blue Bridge is such that it is practically invisible in the overall architectural structure of St. Isaac's Square. The Blue Bridge is part of the ensemble of St. Isaac's Square and is the widest bridge in the city.

The bridge, simple in its architectural design, fits organically into the ensemble of granite embankments of the Moika River.

Near the Blue Bridge are the Mariinsky Palace, St. Isaac's Square with the monument to Nicholas I, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the buildings of the All-Russian Institute of Plant Growing named after.

N.I. Vavilov (VIR) and his libraries, nearby (on Bolshaya Morskaya Street) is the House of the Composer (architect O. Montferrand). The name "Blue Bridge" comes from the original wooden bridge, which was painted blue.

According to local historians, that blue color was brighter than the modern one. Historical background of the Blue Bridge

At the beginning of the 18th century, the site on which St. Isaac's Square is now located was “land under the Admiralty,” part of the Admiralty Meadow, serving as a glacis.

The banks of the Moika River began to be built up with residential buildings already in Peter’s time. When the Admiralty lost its significance as a fortress in the 1730s, active development of the vacated space began. In 1736-1737, work was carried out to deepen the river bottom, and the banks were strengthened with wooden shields. In the same 1737, master G. van Boles built a wooden drawbridge on this site. This bridge was named Blue on April 20, 1738. In 1738, fires occurred in the Morskaya Sloboda, and the Commission on St. Petersburg Buildings proposed to build a shopping area here on the site of St. Isaac's. A pier was supposed to be built at the Blue Bridge. In 1755, a pier was again planned to be built near the bridge; they intended to unload salt on it.

In the middle of the 18th century, the bridge was rebuilt; it became a three-span bridge on stone supports with a wooden span structure.

At the end of the 18th century, the square near the Blue Bridge was a kind of “labor exchange”. In search of work, working people gathered at this place to look for employers: in the square one could find artels of carpenters and masons. Workers in the market could not only be hired, but also bought. This place was popularly known as the “slave market.” This market existed until 1861. In 1805, the bridge was rebuilt according to the standard design of single-span tubing cast-iron arch bridges on rubble masonry supports with granite cladding designed by the architect and engineer V. I. Geste.

The project was adapted to the area in 1807, and its implementation was completed in 1818 with the opening of a single-span cast iron bridge on stone piers. The cast iron structures were manufactured at the Olonets State Iron Foundry. That Blue Bridge was much narrower than the one that exists now (the width of the 1818 bridge is 41 meters) and was illuminated by lanterns on granite obelisks. In 1842-1844, in connection with the construction of the Mariinsky Palace, the bridge was significantly expanded to the Antonenko Lane alignment.

The work was carried out by engineers E. A. Adam, A. D. Gotman, I. S. Zavadovsky. During the work, the granite obelisks were replaced with cast iron lanterns. In the 1920s, through cracks were discovered in the downstream (located closer to the mouth of the Neva, eastern) part of the crossing.

Due to the threat of the bridge collapsing, in 1929-1930 a reconstruction of the load-bearing structures of the bridge was carried out: part of the cast-iron structures of the western half of the bridge were replaced with a reinforced concrete hingeless vault. The work was carried out according to the design of engineers V.V. Chebotarev, O.E. Bugaeva. During the work, the lanterns and decor of the lower part were lost, while the 1818 tubings produced by the Berd factory were destroyed. In 1938, a major overhaul of the road surface was carried out on the bridge.

Stone paving was replaced with asphalt concrete. In 2001, specialists from the State Unitary Enterprise Mostotrest carried out a diagnostic examination of the structure.

The findings were disappointing. Specialists from the city Committee for Improvement and Road Maintenance came to the conclusion that the reason is the colossal dynamic overloads from the flow of moving traffic, which are superimposed on the static forces arising from the weight of vehicles standing on the bridge. In 2002, work was carried out to overhaul the bridge and restore the decor.

The project was carried out by engineer T. Yu. Kuznetsova and architect O. A. Kuzevanov. Interesting facts about the bridge

There is a persistent misconception that the width of the Blue Bridge is 99.9 meters.
This legend arose almost immediately after the reconstruction of the building in 1842. The bridge was reconstructed several times in the 19th-20th centuries, its dimensions and design features were changed.
Despite this, its appearance has not changed, and the appearance of the crossing has reached us almost in its original form. The saying that two emperors turned away from it is applicable to the Blue Bridge, as well as to the Mariinsky Palace located next to it: the movement of the equestrian statues of the Bronze Horseman and the monument to Nicholas I is directed away from the bridge.