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Kremlin dates back to the 12-th century and was built upon the confluence of the Neglinnaya and the Moskva rivers, which protected the two fortress sides against enemy raids.

The Kremlin is a triangular shape in plan. So a wide and deep moat was excavated for the fortress protection from the third approach to it. And the early Moscow bridges were built to span the moat. One of those bridges at Spassky tower was a timber bascule bridge. There was another bridge that spanned the Neglinnaya River at Troitsky tower. It was called the Troitsky Bridge. It has survived to our days though it is situated in a dry place now. We can see this bridge in the middle of Alexandrovsky Garden. The matter is that the Neglinnaya River was enclosed in conduits and driven underground.

Moscow was growing and in the 16-th century the idea of spanning the Moskva by the permanent bridge captured the minds. At those days the only crossing over the river from the Kremlin to Zamoskvorechye was made of tied logs. It was a floating bridge.

In 1643 Yan Cristler was invited to Moscow. He became the designer of the first arch bridge across the Moskva. It was the Big Stone Bridge (Bolshoy Kamenny Most) with seven spans resting on stone arches. Arch spans as described in historical records were 40 arshines or 28 m long. But if it had been so the total bridge length would have been 250 m long. It seems very doubtful because the river width is considerably less. Evidently only one of the spans could be 28 m long and the rest of them were shorter. The old bridge was replaced in 1859. It was a three span cast iron bridge but the Moscovites were fond of its old name. Its main span was 63 m long and the length of the side spans was 36 m each. The roadway width was 16 m.

The modern Big Stone Bridge is not made of stone. It is a steel bridge with an attractive cast iron railing built in 1938 by engineer N. Kalmykov. It was erected under the Moscow Master Development Plan launched in 1932. The old bridges could not meet the requirements of the day and eleven bridges across the Moskva were built within an unprecedentedly short period. It took the builders only three years to erect them.

The modern Big Stone Bridge has three arch spans made of a highly reliable low alloy steel. The main span length is 105 m and its width is 40 m. The bridge can carry about 8 000 vehicles, 10 000 pedestrians and 120 trams per hour. A breathtaking view of the magnificent Kremlin ensemble situated on the slope of a gentle hill opens from the Big Stone Bridge spanning the Moskva River.

The Lefortovsky Bridge built in 1770 also belongs to the oldest bridge crossings across the Moskva River.

Altogehter, Moscow has about 200 bridges, most built since revolution. None of the 38 bridges across the Moskva River are alike. The Krymsky Bridge is the only suspension bridge across the Moskva River. Even though it is light and resembles openwork, it is six-lane structure. The bridge in Strogino is

assembled of large ferroconcrete sections. The Moskvoretsky Bridge is a rather stark-looking bridge, whose monumental shape conforms well to the solid walls and towers of the Kremlin. It is the only bridge among the eleven bridges, which was erected of reinforced concrete and faced with pink granite. The bridge is supported by a gently sloping arch. Its main span is 95 m long. Built in 1936 – 1937 by engineer V. Kirilov to replace the old narrow bridge, it leads from Red Square to Zamoskvorechye, the district on the other bank of the Moskva. At present it is a foot-bridge as Red Square is not allowed for the city traffic.

The beautiful silvery Krymsky Bridge is the only suspension bridge across the Moskva supported by two steel chains flung across the tall pylons. Its main span is the longest over the Moskva. It is 168 m long. The wide road way accommodates six traffic lanes. The bridge was built in 1938 by engineer B. Konstantinov and architect V. Vlasov. Professor K. Yakobson who headed the «Bridges and Tunnels» department at the Novosibirsk Railway Engineering Institute during twenty-five years and was the dean of the «Bridges and Tunnels» Faculty took part in the design and construction of this bridge.

Many of Moscow bridges remember the glorious victories of Russian people and were even erected to commemorate those victories. The Borodinsky Bridge was constructed in 1912 to be a memorial of our victory over Napoleon’s troops. It is the only old bridge in Moscow preserving its original form.

Have you found the answers?

IV. Fill in the words from the list, then make sentences using the completed phrases.

triangular, enemy, dry, river, iron, alloy, magnificent, short

V. Describe bridges from the left column using word combinations from the right column. Prove your answer by reading sentences from the text.

VI. Agree or disagree. Use the following expressions:

That’s wrong, according to the text…

That’s right, as far as I remember…

You are quite right, as far as I know…

If I am not mistaken…

that it was situated on numerous islets of the Neva River Delta and its tributaries. Peter the First was eager to make the inhabitants employ vessels for crossing water obstacles. After his death in 1762 the Department for Bridges and Roads was established. That was the starting point for an intensive bridge erection to span numerous rivers, the Neva tributaries, canals, channels, etc.

Before 1834 sixty-five timber, twenty-six stone, ten floating and sixteen cast iron bridges were erected in St. Petersburg. It was a flourishing bridge age as the structures were of a high artistic value and had outstanding architectural merits. The Hermitage Bridge, the Winter Bridge, the Prachechny Bridge are among these masterpieces.

The most attractive bridges are in the parks of Tsarskoye Selo and a number of suspension bridges spanning the Fontanka River (fig. 10.1) and Griboedov canal. Seven suspension bridges were built in St. Petersburg between 1820 – 1840. Three of them survived to our days and we can admire the graceful Bank Bridge, the Lion Bridge and the Post Bridge.

The most famous among the destroyed bridges is the Egyptian Bridge (Yegipetsky Most). Four sphinxes decorate the bridge. It had 54 m span supported by three heavy chains lying on towers. On the 20-th of January 1905 the bridge, which was 80 years old suddenly collapsed into the water bringing down everything and everybody that was on it.

The disaster was caused by a cavalry squadron crossing the bridge. The frequency of impact of the horses’ hooves coincided with the natural frequency of the bridge’s own vibrations resulting in a response powerful enough to bring the whole structure down.

In fact the real reason of the Egyptian Bridge collapse was the iron cold brittleness when metal looses its strength under frost.

The bridge was rebuilt 50 years later. No doubt you know the charming and elegant survived suspension footbridges with short spans and towers adorned with lions (the Lion Bridge) and gilt winged lion griffins (the Bank Bridge). Griffins were supposed to stand guard over gold as the bridge around 1800 led to the National Bank. The supporting chains come out of these animals’ jaws and make these bridges unique.

At the crossing of Nevsky Prospect (fig. 10. 2) and the Fontanka River you can see one of the world famous bridges. This is the Anichkov Bridge (fig. 10. 3). Following a decree of Peter the Great, a wooden bridge about 6 m wide was erected in 1715 by an Admiralty engineers battalion commanded by M. Anichkov. It gave place to a stone structure with four towers on the comers in 1841. It has stood to this day and is as wide as Nevsky Prospect. Viewed from the water, the arch granite spans look graceful with its four sculptures of tamed horses by Peter Klodt. The series of sculptures represent a youth thrown to the ground, then rising to one knee and trying to tame the horse. The next episode shows the man on his feet but the horse is rearing. In the final scene the man’s

will has won and the horse is finally broken. This is an allegory on the history of Peter the Great who managed to curb his enemies.

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Fig. 10

V. Fill in the correct word from the list below:

metal, cross, railings, permanent, longest, movable, foundation, long

1.Up to the middle of the 19-th century people could … the Neva (fig. 10. 4) only by the floating bridges.

2.The oldest … bridge, the Blagoveshchensky Most, was built in 1850.

3.Blagoveshchensky Most has seven spans, one of which is … to provide the ocean vessels of 50 – 60 m high traveling along the Neva.

4.The Liteiny Bridge (fig. 10. 5) is one of the few ones, which were not renamed; it is known for its wrought-iron … with Russian State Emblem.

5.Troitsky Most (fig. 10. 6) was built on the eve of the 200-th Anniversary of St. Petersburg … in 1903.

6.The Holy Trinity Bridge is a … arch bridge with one movable and four fixed spans.

7.The Palace Bridge (fig. 10. 7) which has five metal arch spans and a movable

III. What St. Petersburg bridge do you like? Make a report using some additional information.

Text 17 

II. Read the text and count Novosibirsk bridges.

NOVOSIBIRSK BRIDGES

At the end of the 19-th century the builders of the Transsiberian Railway had to bridge the mighty Siberian rivers. The overall length of this mainline from Moscow to Vladivostok is about 10 000 km. They erected unique magnificent bridges at the intersection of waterways and the arterial railway.

The surveying group had chosen the site for a railway bridge across the Ob River and in 1893 the construction of the bridge crossing began at Krivoshchokovo village. A settlement that sprang up there during the years of construction developed into the largest city in Siberia.

Professor N. Belelyubsky greatly contributed to more than a hundred bridge projects. He designed the huge railway bridge across the Ob. This is a multispan bridge which superstructure is a cantilever-beam metal truss. The under clearance is provided by 118 and 117 m shipping clearances. The main advantage of a cantilever-beam truss is that each support has one bearing part. This results in reducing of a support dimension at the bridge front. The suspended span is 87 m long and rests on the cantilevers of the adjacent trusses. No doubt the bearing joint of the suspended truss resting on a cantilever is the most vulnerable bridge point. The reconstruction of this bridge began in 1981 as