Nicholas Chain Bridge

Former bridge in Ukraine
50°26′32″N 30°33′52.30″E / 50.44222°N 30.5645278°E / 50.44222; 30.5645278CrossesDnieperLocaleKyiv, UkraineCharacteristicsDesignSuspension bridgeLongest span776 metres (2,546 ft)HistoryConstruction start1848Construction end1853Closed1920 (destroyed)LocationMap

The Nicholas Chain Bridge (or Nikolaevsky Chain Bridge; Ukrainian: Миколаївський ланцюговий міст; Russian: Николаевский цепной мост) was a chain bridge over the Dnieper that existed from 1855 to 1920 in Kyiv.

Overview

An 1879 map of Kyiv, showing the railway bridge and the Nicholas Bridge, then the only permanent structures across the Dnieper

The bridge was designed by British engineer Charles Blacker Vignoles. Construction started in 1848 and was completed in 1853. The 776-metre-long (2,546 ft) bridge was the largest at that time in Europe. A silver model of the bridge was presented at The Great Exhibition in London.

In 1920, during the Polish-Soviet War, the bridge was blown up by retreating Polish troops. It was restored based on old drawings by Evgeny Paton and opened again in 1925 under the name Yevgenia Bosch Bridge. Paton had significantly changed its structure and raised it by several metres, so that the Yevgenia Bosch Bridge may be considered as a new bridge.

On 19 September 1941, Yevgenia Bosch Bridge was demolished by retreating Soviet troops and was never restored after the war. In 1965 in place of the former chain bridge a new Kyiv Metro Bridge was built.

See also

  • Bridges in Kyiv

External links

Media related to Nicholas Chain Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

  • Chain bridge history and old photos on Kiev History Site
  • Цветное изображение моста
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20071222120927/http://pk.kiev.ua/history/2006/07/25/090056.html
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20040203060952/http://www.k-telegraph.kiev.ua/N72/starygor.htm
  • http://www.nostalgia2.kiev.ua/history-kiev_008.shtml
  • v
  • t
  • e
Bridges over the Dnieper in Kyiv
RoadRailwayMulti-purposePedestrianClosedDestroyed
  • Rybalskyi
  • Darnytsia
  • Park
  • Venetsiansky
  • Rybalskyi
Italics denote bridges currently under construction