The most ancient bridges. The oldest bridges in russia

When we think about buildings that have survived to this day, we usually think of the Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa and the pyramids. But what about the structures that are still in use - for their intended purpose?

While most of the ancient structures have received a second life as tourist attractions, an ordinary unassuming bridge can retain its original purpose for centuries.

There are many bridges that were built hundreds of years ago and are still used in everyday life today due to the fact that they were built for centuries.

While old bridges are most often destroyed by natural disasters, blown up in wars, or burned down in tragic disasters, the bridges on this list have survived the centuries relatively unchanged.

10. Pons Fabricius, Rome, Italy

The Romans built many things that have stood the test of time. Thanks to their tough and efficient construction method, several important structures from the Roman era stand to this day. If you would like to take a close look and study the fruits of their handicraft, then go to Rome and visit the Fabrice Bridge.

The bridge was built by Lucius Fabricius in 62 BC, probably to replace the burned down wooden bridge... We can say that Lucius ordered it to be built, as he wrote it on the bridge in four different places.

In 21 BC. two consuls, Marcus Lolli and Quintus Aemilius Lepidus, redesigned the bridge to better preserve it after the floods in 23 BC. True, what kind of improvements were made is not indicated anywhere.

Perhaps it was the superstructure of a small arch on the bridge, which relieved the pressure during floods. This is probably the only thing that helped the bridge to survive over the centuries.

9. Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy


Built in 1345, the Ponte Vecchio is located in Florence, Italy. It was erected to replace the wooden bridge that could not stand during the flood, therefore it has survived to this day in its original splendor.
An interesting feature of the Ponte Vecchio (which means "old bridge" in Italian) is the vaulted gallery with shops. Today, jewelry and various souvenirs are sold here, and initially there were butchers' shops in the passage. In fact, because of the fishmongers and butchers who traded here in the 15th century, the bridge still smells bad.

Considering that at that time Florence was becoming the capital of the Renaissance, Grand Duke Ferdinand I banned the sale of meat and fish on the bridge, ordering that only goldsmiths and silversmiths' shops were located on the bridge, which created an attractive image of the city, contributing to an increase in the flow of wealthy foreign tourists.

The bridge would hardly have survived to this day had it not been for an act of respect shown during World War II. When the German soldiers left the city, they blew up all the bridges as they retreated. The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge they have not touched, preferring to destroy access to it rather than himself.

8. Rialto Bridge (Ponte Di Rialto), Venice, Italy


The Italian bridge was erected in 1591 on the site of a collapsed wooden bridge. It was designed by the architect Antonio de Ponte, who, in a highly competitive environment, entered the competition for best project bridge along with such outstanding architects as Michelangelo, Palladio, Vignola.

Unfortunately, after the bridge was built, it did not meet with enthusiastic reactions among local residents... It received both praise and contemptuous derision from critics, which strongly condemned its design - "unstable and inelegant". The same attention was drawn to Eiffel tower after it was built.

Despite criticism, the bridge has remained largely intact since its inception. Considering that it had to have a 7-meter arch so that galleys could sail under it, and also be strong enough to accommodate a row of benches in the center, it had to be structurally stable and durable. The Rialto Bridge is so strong that cannons were fired from it during the riots in 1797.

7. Khaju Bridge, Isfahan, Iran


The construction of this bridge, erected on the foundations of the old bridge in 1667, began by order of Shah Abbas II. As a bridge, it serves its primary purpose of allowing people to cross the Zayandeh River, but it has other uses as well. The Haju Bridge also functions as a dam (and has sluices), and its most interesting use has a social dimension.

Although we are not used to bridges that should be used as a place for social gatherings, this did not stop Shah Abbas II from trying to build one of these. Impressive ceramic tile designs and patterns can still be seen along the bridge. A pavilion was built in the middle so that Shah Abbas II and his courtiers could enjoy the picturesque landscape.

Today, the pavilion houses a café and an art gallery. A stone seat was installed in the pavilion, on which Shah Abbas II enjoyed the view of the river. This place is still in the same place, but already in the form of remnants of its former glory.

6. Shaharah Bridge, Amran, Yemen


The Shekhar Bridge (or "Bridge of Sighs" as many call it), built in the 17th century, is located at an altitude of 200 meters and connects two mountains - Jabal al Emir and Jabal al Faish).

Local residents, whose houses were located on the slopes of both mountains, found it difficult to get to visit each other, since for this they had to first descend from one mountain and climb the other. The bridge was erected to connect the two villages on both sides of the deep gorge, thereby saving the time and effort of local residents.

This was not just a dangerous area for vehicles. Considering that this was the only entrance to the city of Shekhara, the bridge had to be fortified to repel the attacks of the Turkish invaders. The locals are said to know a way to destroy the bridge at any moment, isolating the residents from danger.

Today, the Shekhara Bridge is a major tourist attraction and still serves the locals as a working bridge.

5. Cendere Bridge, Eskikale, Turkey


Also known as Severan, the bridge was erected in the 2nd century by the forces of the four cities of the Commagene kingdom. The bridge was built in honor of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia and their two sons - Caracalla and Geta. As one of the oldest, it is also the second most long bridge built by the Romans.

On each side of the bridge, two columns rise, personifying the members of the imperial family: Sever and Julia on the one side and Caracalla and Geta on the other. If you happen to visit the Jendare Bridge, you will see that the column representing Getu is missing.

This is because Caracalla killed Geta due to constant rivalry, as they say, right in the arms of his mother. Moreover, Caracalla went so far as to order to kill all the friends and allies of Geta, and as a final blow to the legacy of Geta, he ordered the destruction of any mention of his brother so that his name would be erased from history - including the column symbolizing Geta.

4. Anji Bridge, Shijiazhuan, China


The Anji Bridge, built in 605, is the oldest bridge in China. The bridge, the name of which in translation from the Chinese language means "Bridge of Safe Ferry", can be said to have been built for centuries.

It was designed to be one of the finest in the world. At that time, it was considered technically progressive, as it had the largest arch. Considering that it is still quite solid, it is obvious that Anji Bridge, being a very ambitious structure, was not built to the detriment of its appearance.

By the way, the bridge has passed much more than just the test of time. It has survived 10 floods, 8 wars and countless earthquakes, and took repairs only 9 times in its entire documented lifespan.

3. Bridge of the Holy Angel (Ponte Sant'Angelo), Rome, Italy


Built by order of the Emperor Hadrian in 136, the Sant'Angelo Bridge is one of the most famous in Rome and one of the most beautiful.

To some extent, the emperor built the bridge for his own vanity, since its main purpose is to connect the whole city with Hadrian's mausoleum, Castel Sant'Angelo.

One of the most beautiful improvements to the bridge came many centuries after the death of the emperor. In 1668, the Italian architect and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini decorated the bridge along its entire length with ten statues of angels, two of which he personally created. Each of the angels holds in their hands a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Even now, after several centuries, the bridge and the angels still stand, being a famous and beautiful landmark.

2. Tarr Steps, Exmoor, England


Tarr Steps (known as "walkways") is a slab ferry on a stone support. Given the construction of the bridge, it is difficult to say when it was built: it is assumed that between 3000 BC and before the Middle Ages. The first documented description of the bridge was made during the Tudor period, that is, at least at the end of the 15th century.

There is a legend about Tarr Steps that it was built by the devil himself, who vowed to kill everyone who dares to cross it. Then the locals, wanting to test the theory, sent a cat over it. The cat disappeared. Then they sent the vicar across the bridge to meet the devil in the middle of the bridge. After they agreed, the devil said that anyone can use the bridge, but if he wants to use this place for sunbathing, then the ban on using the bridge will be renewed. So if you want to cross the Tarr Steps footbridge, first make sure that there is no sunbathing devil in your way.

Unfortunately, Tarr Steps is a small exception among the bridges that have stood untouched for centuries. Given that the pile of stones is not the best foundation, some of them have been demolished over time as a result of floods. For this reason, all the stones were numbered so that in such a case they could be installed back to where they lay, so that the bridge retains its authenticity. Despite the fact that some of the stones have already been re-installed several times, it is technically still the same bridge.

1. Arkadiko Bridge, Argolina, Greece


This bridge is the oldest surviving arch bridge, which is still used for its intended purpose. It is believed to have been built during the Greek Bronze Age, 1300-1200. BC.

During the Mycenaean civilization, the bridge was part of the military road that ran between the cities of Tiryns and Epidauros. The bridge is almost 2.5 meters wide, which is much wider than conventional pedestrian bridges. According to historians, the bridge was designed in such a way that chariots could pass over it.

What makes it even more impressive is that it was built entirely from limestone stones without the use of any binder. This means that the Arkadik bridge, solely thanks to the skill of its builders, has stood for three millennia, starting from the time of the Mycenaean civilization, and has survived to this day.

Photo of 1884 from N.A.Naydenov's albums. Troitsky Bridge is the oldest preserved stone bridge in Moscow. But for 200 years it has been lying not over the waters of the Neglinka River, but over the avenue of the Alexander Garden. Built in 1516 by the architect Aleviz Fryazin (it was originally built, probably in the 1360s). Naturally, it has been reconstructed more than once.

Photo con. 1900s He's the same.

Photo of the beginning. 1850s Vsekhsvyatsky (Kamenny; Bolshoi Kamenny) bridge (built in the 1680s)

Photo of 1852 by R. Fenton. He

Photo con. 1860s Stone (Vsekhsvyatsky; Big Stone) bridge. The second stone bridge on this site (built at the end of the 1850s).

Photo of the 1900s. Maly Kamenny Bridge across the Kanavka (Vodootvodny Canal).

Photo of the beginning. 1910s He

Photo con. 1890s - early. 1900s Moskvoretsky bridge

Photo con. 1890s He's the same.

Photo con. 1889 - early. 1890s Bolshoi Ustyinsky Bridge (built in 1881 according to the project of engineer V.N.Speyer).

Photo of the 1900s. He

Photo con. 1860s - 1870s On the right in the picture - Cast iron bridge across the Groove (built in the 1830s).

Photo of the beginning. 1880s He

Photo1908 Komissariatskiy bridge on Kanavka. It was located further downstream than the current one, which is a continuation of the Ustyinsky bridge. Photo taken after the 1908 "Easter" flood.

Photo of the beginning. 1890s Babegorodskaya dam

Photo of 1934. Crimean bridge

Photo of the beginning. 1930s He

Photo of 1907 Krasnokholmsky bridge

Photo of 1908 Krasnokholmskaya dam

Photo of 1934. Big Krasnokholmsky Bridge.

Photo of the 1900s. Novospassky bridge

Photo con. 1900s Vsekhsvyatsky pontoon bridge near the Simonov Monastery. I wrote a lot about this bridge at one time (see the tag "mysterious All Saints Bridge").

Photo of 1910 - 1920s. He

Photo of 1907. Alekseevsky (Kozhukhovsky, now - Danilovsky) bridge.

Photo of 1907. Same.

Photo of 1908 Dorogomilovsky (Borodinsky) bridge

Photo of 1911 Demolition of the old Borodino bridge

Photo con. 1900 - 1910s Krasnoluzhsky (Nikolaevsky; Nicholas II) bridge. Railroad bridge across the Moskva River. Built in 1905-1907, designed by engineer L. D. Proskuryakov and architect A. N. Pomerantsev. In 2000, it was moved 2 km. Now - pedestrian bridge Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Photo con. 1900 - 1910s He

Photo of the 1910s. He

Photo of 1905. Temporary wooden railway bridge of the engineer. Lembke - the forerunner of the Andreevsky (Sergievsky) bridge

Photo 1904-1905 He

Photo of 1908. Andreevsky (Sergievsky) bridge. Railway bridge across the Moskva River. Built in 1905-1907, designed by engineer L. D. Proskuryakov and architect A. N. Pomerantsev. Now, moved downstream and reconstructed, is the pedestrian Pushkin Bridge.

Bridges across the Yauza

Photo of the 1930s. Old Yauzsky (Astakhovsky) bridge (built in 1876 on the supports of the 1805 bridge).

Photo of 1938 by B. Ignatovich. He's in the middle ground. Will be dismantled in 1940 and built in its place new bridge, still valid.

Photo of 1929. Bridge across the Yauza near Serebryanichesky lane

Photo of 1902. Vysoko-Yauzsky (High) bridge.

Photo of 1887 from N.A.Naydenov's albums. He

Photo of 1935 Kostomarovsky bridge

Photo of the 1870s. Colorized photo. Andronikov viaduct - railway bridge

Photo of 1888. He

Photo of the 1890s. He

Photo of the 1900s. Palace (Lefortovsky) bridge. The oldest of all the existing Moscow bridges (and is located above the river). Built in the 1770s-1790s. Although, of course, it was later reconstructed, but without demolition.

Photo of 1919. He

Photo 1907 Hospital bridge

Photo of the 1930s. Hospital bridge

Photo of the 1930s. Sailor bridge

Photo of the 1930s. Rubtsovsky (Pokrovsky; now - Electrozavodsky) bridge

Photo of 1896. Bridge of the Moscow-Kazan railway (now there is the railway Electrozavodsky bridge)

The U Bein Bridge crosses Lake Tauntome and is rightfully considered a landmark in Myanmar. The longest and oldest bridge on the planet is completely assembled from local teak wood. At sunset, when its graceful structure is penetrated by the rays of the setting sun, the bridge looks incredibly beautiful. "Waterway" was built in 1850 and has a length of 1200 m. It connects the city of Mandalay, which is the second largest in Myanmar, and the capital - Amarapura.

During the construction of the bridge, wooden trunks were used, which remained from the former royal palace... In total, 1,086 logs were used to create the bridge, and each of them is numbered with a special plate. However, time did not spare some of the trunks, and they underwent decay. Concrete structures were installed in their place.

The high flow rate of the lake is subject to significant fluctuations depending on the season. During the rainy period - from July to August, Tauntome overflows heavily and then the bridge gains critical importance for local residents. In the cold season, without feeding on rain, the lake acquires a very modest size.

The bridge against the backdrop of the setting sun is a spectacular sight, appreciated by tourists. Many people come to see him in Myanmar. The popularity of the bridge has become an additional source of income for the local population, who, in addition to selling souvenirs, earn extra money by taking tourists in boats to the middle of the lake, from where the structure looks most picturesque and makes an incredible impression.

The history of wooden bridge building in our country has not yet been the subject of special study. Only the most brief mentions and simple enumerations of monuments in general works and popular essays devoted to the history of bridge building in general and Russian wooden architecture are devoted to this topic. In this article, an attempt is made to systematize Russian wooden bridges of historically formed and currently existing types.

Short story. The art of building bridges has been highly developed since ancient times. The main building material was pine due to the straightness and evenness of the trunk, good mechanical properties of wood and resistance to decay, as well as wide distribution. Ancient bridges, like other structures, were chopped and processed with an ax: grooves and nests were cut out when the beams were bundled; even the making of the wood was done by splitting logs lengthwise into several parts with wedges. Therefore, the chroniclers, speaking about the construction of wooden buildings or structures, used the word “cut down” instead of the word “build”: they chopped down huts, mansions, bridges, etc.

The first mentions of bridges in Russian chronicles date back to the end of the 10th century. The improvement of the art of building caused the emergence of a special kind of specialists - the builders of bridges and crossings, called "bridges". The first bridges were trees thrown from coast to coast; rafts-ferries were arranged on large rivers. Several interconnected rafts, on top of which a log deck was laid, formed a "living", floating bridge. They were common on large rivers.

In 1115, under Vladimir Monomakh, a floating bridge across the Dnieper was built in Kiev. Since the floating bridges were quickly built and easily disassembled, they played an important role in military operations. Two such bridges are known across the Volga, mentioned in reports about the siege of Tver under Dmitry Donskoy, another bridge for crossing the Don during the battle with the Tatars in 1380. The first bridges of Moscow were "alive": Moskvoretsky, Krymsky, etc. It should be noted that that floating bridges were widely used in Russia until the end of the 19th century. The main reason for this was the considerable width and depth of the rivers, as well as the strong ice drift; under such conditions, floating bridges without permanent supports seemed to be the most appropriate, simple and cheap structures.

1. Moskvoretsky "live" - ​​floating bridge. 17th century Picard engraving. (Photo library of the State Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after Shchusev)

2. One-span bridge in the city of Yeniseisk at the end of the 19th century.

3. A cantilever-beam bridge with an arched span on the river. These things of the Arkhangelsk region. (photo from 1920, Photo Library of the Shchusev State Research Institute of the State Academy of Arts)

Floating bridges could also be movable; for the passage of ships, one part of the bridge (raft) was taken to the side. An engraving by Picard of the 17th century gives an idea of ​​the floating drawbridge Moskvoretsky bridge, which existed already in 1498. (Fig. 1) and a figurative description of Pavel Aleppsky: “There are several bridges on the Moscow River, most of which are approved on wooden piles. The bridge near the Kremlin, opposite the gates of the second city wall, excites great surprise: it is flat, made of large wooden beams, driven one to the other and tied with thick ropes of linden bark, the ends of which are attached to the towers and to the opposite bank of the river. When the water arrives, the bridge rises, because it is not supported by pillars, but consists of planks lying on the water, and when the water recedes, the bridge also sinks. When a ship with supplies for the palace arrives from the Kazan and Astrakhan regions ... from Kolomna ... to the bridges approved (on piles), then its mast is lowered and the ship is escorted under one of the spans; when they approach the aforementioned bridge, one of the connected parts of it is freed from the ropes and taken out of the way of the ship, and when it passes to the side of the Kremlin, then that part (of the bridge) is brought back to its place. There are always a lot of ships that bring all kinds of supplies to Moscow ... There are shops on this bridge where brisk trade takes place; there is a lot of movement on it; we constantly go there for a walk ... troops are constantly moving back and forth along it. All city maids, servants and commoners come to this bridge to wash their clothes in the river, because the water is high here, on a level with the bridge. " The Moskvoretsky "live" bridge was located opposite the Water Gate of the Kitay-Gorod wall; in the second half of the 18th century. it was replaced by a wooden bridge on stilts.

Drawbridges were used in the fortifications. The first annalistic indications of their structure date back to 1229: "... both the construction bridge and the Zaravets vozhgosha ...", - the Ipatiev Chronicle reports. The span, adjacent to the city wall, was made a lifting bridge and was called an erection bridge. The mechanism that sets the bridge in motion consisted of a rocker arm rotating between pillars (zheravtsy) and chains. In the XVI century. the bridges of the Kremlin - Konstantino-Yeleninsky, Spassky, Nikolsky - were connected with a sluice system regulating the filling of the ditch with water from the Neglinnaya River, and had a wooden lifting structure adopted for fortresses. In the XVII century. The Trinity Bridge had a lifting part.

Strengthening bridges. In the middle - additional abutments. At the bottom - with the appropriate direction of the load with the help of wheel deflectors (1 and 2) and reinforcement of the flooring (3 and 4).

The types of bridges described above, by their design, are referred to as movable bridges. Permanent bridges were a fundamentally different type. Depending on the number of supports on which the spans rested, they differed into single-span or multi-span ones. The “rowing” bridges belong to the ancient type of single-span bridges, the first mention of them dates back to 977: in Vruchia “the bridge over the rowing”. Rowing took place in wide floodplains of rivers and was a kind of dirt road. In the middle part, a slot was left for the construction of a single-span bridge, the abutments of which were log pillars filled with earth and stone. Probably, rowing could also consist of solid log cabins with a slot in the middle part. At the end of the XIX century. LF Nikolai, analyzing the drawings of wooden bridges, measured on the Arkhangelsk tract in 1795, came to the conclusion: "A similar method of crossing wide floodplains of rivers is used to this day ...". Bridges of the late 19th - early 20th centuries had a similar design. in the city of Yeniseisk (Fig. 2) and on the river. This is in the Arkhangelsk region (Fig. 3). Consistently protruding logs of the coastal abutments formed an almost arched structure. To prevent the bridge from floating up during floods, cobblestones were laid along the edges of the deck.

In the case when several holes were left in the frame for the entire height of the fence, a multi-span bridge with supports in the form of cages or gorodnyi was obtained (Subsequently, such supports were called ryazh or bulls). To ensure the necessary degree of immobility and non-floatability, gorod-houses, as a rule, were heaped up with stones. On top of the gorodny in the longitudinal direction, girders of logs were laid, in turn, on them in the transverse direction, a continuous roll of logs was laid - the flooring of the roadway. The carpenters were required to create a solid support for the roadway, which at the same time could withstand the rapid flow of water during the spring flood. These tasks were complicated by the fact that the bridges reached significant sizes.

Novgorodians were famous for their skill of "woodworkers". The famous Great Bridge over the river. The Volkhov had supports in the form of gorodni and was built obliquely across the river (the width of the Volkhov near Novgorod is about 250 m). Under 1133 in the Novgorod First Chronicle it is reported: "In the same summer, I renewed the bridge of the Volkhovo River, and destroyed it." Since this date, the chronicles systematically report the damage to the gorodny bridge by flooding, storm, ice drift. There is a miniature of Nikon's facial chronicle of the 16th century, which depicts the Great Bridge, where the execution of the strigolniks takes place in 1375.

Bridges, in addition to their main purpose - crossing any obstacle, were used as street markets. On the Moskvoretsky bridge, which was mentioned above, there were shops. Resurrection bridge on the river. Neglinke was a brick multi-span structure covered with a wooden pavement, and was built up on both sides with two rows of chopped wooden trade shops. It was located at the Resurrection Gate of Kitay-Gorod and gave an exit from the city to Red Square near the present Historical Museum.

Stone and wooden bridges were logical in the system of the Kremlin's fortifications. To prevent enemies from crossing the bridge, it was enough to dismantle or even burn the wooden deck of the bridge. Then he easily recovered.

Changes in the country's economy caused by the reforms of Peter I had a positive impact on the development of bridge construction. The construction of the capital at the mouth of the Neva required the construction of a large number of crossings in a relatively short time. The first bridge of the new city, built in 1705, was floating. Instead of rafts, pontoons were used there. Such bridges were built in St. Petersburg throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the most notable of which was St. Isaac's. Simultaneously with floating bridges, permanent bridges on pile supports were built through the canals. It is interesting to note the fact that at this time wooden bridges were often built according to "samples", that is, typical standard drawings. By 1748, there were about 40 wooden bridges in St. Petersburg, about half of which had drawbridges. On the river Fontanka, according to the project of V.V. Rastrelli, an aqueduct was built, which, with the help of a special machine, supplied water to the fountains of the Summer Garden.

An outstanding achievement of Russian technical thought in the 18th century. was the project of I.P. Kulibin. It was proposed to block the Neva with a huge wooden arch with a span of 294 m.

The most important and complex engineering and technical structure among bridges are dam bridges, which are functionally connected with the whole system of hydraulic structures. From the end of the 17th century. the construction of waterways of national importance began, such as the Vyshne-Volotskaya, Tikhvin, Mariinsky systems. All hydraulic structures of these systems were made of wood. In the Vytegorsk Museum of Local Lore, views of the dams and bridges of the Mariinsky system have been preserved. The dam of St. Paul (at the same time it served as a bridge), located on the river. Vytegra near the village. Nine, had a ridge stepped discharge, the difference in heights of the headwaters (Bief is a section of the river between two neighboring dams on the river) was 8.5 m. The Anninsky swing bridge on the river was of considerable interest. Kovzha, it existed from 1810 to 1896. The middle pillar of the bridge had a swivel mechanism that could rotate along with the bridge spans by 90 °, allowing oncoming ships to freely pass from both sides. Until 1961 in the town of Vytegra, there was a drawbridge on the connecting canal. It was built on pile supports. The middle part of the bridge had two lifting parts of the span of different sizes. With the introduction of the Volga-Baltic waterway, the Mariinsky system was reconstructed with the replacement of wooden hydraulic structures with concrete ones.

Extensive construction of highways, and then railways in the XIX century. led to the rise of bridge construction. Appeared big variety structural systems of span structures: braces, arches, trusses, etc. The issues of engineering construction in Russia of this period are beyond the scope of this article and deserve special consideration. With the introduction of new building materials (cast iron, concrete, steel, etc.), wooden bridges were gradually displaced, and then in the central part of the USSR, their almost complete disappearance.

Modern wooden bridge construction... In the North of the USSR, wooden bridge building has received the most striking and multifaceted development. The stability of the northern life contributed to the transmission from generation to generation of the building skills of folk architects, therefore, to this day, samples of wooden bridges of various types have been preserved here. What are the varieties of bridges that have survived and are currently under construction, what are their technical and design features?

Wooden bridges experience great physical and atmospheric influences, therefore, more often than other structures, they are subjected to bulkheads or replacement of individual parts, but at the same time the original forms and structural basis remain the same, formed from the river regime and operating conditions. Thanks to these features, bridges, unlike other structures, retain their original forms, which date back to distant times.

The easiest way of communication between the shores is by ferry crossings. They are used for low traffic volumes. A raft, or pontoon, ferry moves manually along a rope thrown from shore to shore along the bottom of the river or over water. For example, in the Arkhangelsk region, on the rivers Onega and Moshe, ancient ferry crossings have been preserved, which are currently in use. In cases where the device of a bridge on permanent supports is expensive and cannot be justified by the cargo turnover, floating bridges are used. With a high water horizon, all the rafts of such a bridge are afloat, with a low horizon, some of the rafts near the coast rest on the bottom of the river. With the onset of winter, these raft bridges have to be dismantled and removed to backwaters, protected from floods and ice drifts. In this case, communication between the banks for the winter period occurs on ice. In Kargopol across the river. A pontoon bridge has been thrown over to Onegu. In more remote areas, raft floating bridges have been preserved - in the village. Korovino on the r. Kene and pos. Ust-Pocha in the Plesetsk district of the Arkhangelsk region.

4. Bridges in the village. Purnema, Arkhangelsk region a - a new bridge (1969), the solid structure of the bridge was not brought to the slope of the ravine; b - the old bridge (1927) has a solid log structure with the laying of logs "in dir"

5. Cantilever-girder single-span bridge from a bar in the village. Gridino, Karelia

6. An ancient bridge with supports from rectangular log cabins in the village of Verkhovskaya, Komi Republic (Photo by I. N. Shurgin)

7. Bridge with two triangular log cabins in the village. Stupino Arch. region

Narrow obstacles, such as ravines and rivers, are blocked by solid bridges. They consist of end-to-end rows of log cabins (ryazh frame), connected in the transverse direction by the same rows of logs, forming a monolithic structure. Such a construction, for example, has been preserved in the Arkhangelsk region on Kenozero in the village of Tarasovo. Ancient bridge in the village. Purnema in the Arkhangelsk region (Fig. 4, b) is built through a deep ravine (8 m); its flooring lies on a solid ryazh frame that fills the ditch to the very bottom. This method of felling "in dir" (It is necessary to distinguish the concept of a cricket or cage support from cutting "in dir." skip the spring waters. A hole is left in the middle part for free passage of water. The bridge has already fallen into disrepair, its edges have subsided, as the coast of the slope is sandy. In 1969, next to the old bridge, a new one, similar in design, was built, but the cricket frame was not brought to the end of the ditch (Fig. 4, a). The new wooden bridge is also of considerable interest.

The most common type of bridge for small rivers are single-span girder bridges, such as those in Ust-Tsilma of the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. To increase the span between the supports, a cantilever-beam structure is used - sequentially protruding logs of the coastal abutments. Such a bridge in the village. Gridino of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Fig. 5) was built across a stormy, rocky river, its foundations are littered with boulders.

On wider rivers, multi-span bridges are arranged, this is achieved by the introduction of intermediate supports: pile, ridge. With rocky or muddy soil, cage supports are arranged, having different shapes of log cabins: three-, four-, pentahedral and more complex.

The simpler and more ancient pillars are rectangular log cabins. In the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in the village of Verkhovskaya (Ust-Tsilmsky District), a bridge is built across the Domashny stream (Fig. 6), the flooring of which, without a fence, lies on four rectangular bull cages. Logs of log cabins are processed with an ax, laid “in the cut” and have large outlets.

In the Arkhangelsk region, in the village of Stupino (Nyandomsky district), in 1967 a bridge was measured, the intermediate abutments of which have a triangular shape (Fig. 7), and the frame of the bulls is set at an angle towards the river flow.

On rivers with an ice drift, ryazhs of a pentahedral shape are arranged. A triangular appendage is cut to the rectangular frame of the bull, which acts as an ice cutter. Wooden bridges with this form of log cabins are the most widespread and can reach significant sizes. In with. Shueretskoe of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Fig. 8) the bridge has eleven bulls, and its length is 150 m. Ryagovo (Kargopolye) with a bridge length of more than 100 m, the ryazh height reaches 8 m (Fig. 9). (Today, a new concrete bridge has been erected nearby.)

As a rule, ryazh bridges have the original foundation of log cabins, since the tree is preserved in the water for centuries. When replacing or rebuilding the top of the supports, their shapes are repeated. There are many similar bridges in the Arkhangelsk region in the direction of Krechetovo-Kargopol-Oshevensk on the rivers Ukhta, Tikhmanga, Lekshma, Churyega. With the same design solutions, each of them has its own unique architectural and artistic image (Fig. 10).

8. The longest of the surviving wooden bridges (150 m) in the village. Shueretskoe, Karelia

9. Razhevoy bull of the bridge in the village. Ryagovo reaches a height of 8 m. (Arch. Region)

North of Oshevensk, in the place where the river. Churyega flows into the river. Kenu, in the 15th century. The Kenoretsky Monastery was founded, which reached its heyday in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. By this time there are large land acquisitions on both sides of the river. Kenes. In 1764 the monastery was abolished, in 1800 a fire destroyed its buildings. The only witnesses of that time are two ryazh bridges: in the village of Leshino (now the village of Kenoretskaya) (Fig. 11) and three kilometers downstream of the river, in the village of Pelugino.

According to the Old Russian tradition, at the entrance to the Peluginsky bridge, on the lofty-minded bank, there was a chapel on the basement, with a hipped belfry above the entrance, surrounded by a gallery (now it has been transported to the Arkhangelsk Museum of Wooden Architecture "Malye Karely").

Back in 1946, an expedition from the Institute of History and Theory of Architecture of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR surveyed Kargopolye. One of the most important results of her work was the measurements of the Ken bridges, carried out by A.V. Opolovnikov. In 1982, the author of the article carried out a second survey and measurements, which showed that, despite the almost complete replacement of the building material, the shape and structure of the bridges did not change. Perfected over the centuries, these shapes have proven to be very stable.

The constructive basis of the Ken bridges is the same. The five-span bridge near the village of Leshino is 114 m long, the four-span bridge near the village of Pelugino is 84 m long. Their design is unique, each middle ryazh consists of a rectangular log house with a triangular and trapezoidal cut-out protruding in its lower part; so that all the outlines of the plan resemble the shape of a boat. The bottom here is rocky, the flow of the river is very fast, so the ryazha frame is littered with boulders. To eliminate the resulting tension and to evenly fill the bull with boulders in the transverse and longitudinal directions at different levels, the log cabins have a bandage of crowns that form a system of internal triangular "pockets". The upper four-sided base of the bull forms fellings on the logs, which makes it possible to increase the spans up to 15 m.

12. A ryazhevoy bridge with a triangular shape on the river. Keme (Vologda region) Combination folk traditions and engineering techniques (Photo by O. G. Sevan)

Unlike civil structures, bridges have no shell - walls, ceilings, hiding the supporting structure. Therefore, the structural system of bridges remains open and forms the basis of the architectural composition. Bridges are rarely subjected to artistic processing, their architectural expressiveness is achieved by the boldness of constructive solutions, the originality of the spatial composition and various methods of wood processing. The most interesting engineering and architectural structure is the bridge across the river. Kema in the Vytegorsky district of the Vologda region. Its distinctive feature - a triangular log truss - significantly enriches the volumetric composition: it is arranged “in a spacer” in the deeper part of the river, which allows to increase the span (Fig. 12). Another example is the bridge in the village. Umba Murmansk region... Its bright artistic expressiveness is achieved by the log struts of the spans and the X-shaped framing of the bridge handrails (Fig. 13).

Any wooden bridge, having its own special artistic image, is also a part of the environment: landscape or residential development. In the Osheven complex of villages located along the Churyega and Halui rivers, wooden bridges are an important element of the planning structure and, together with unique religious, residential and farm buildings, form a harmonious whole.

The town of Belomorsk (formerly the village of Soroka) can be considered a kind of "reserve" of wooden bridges. The old part of the city is built of wood and has no unique architectural monuments, but the nature itself has made it unusually picturesque. When it flows into the White Sea, the Vyg river overcomes many rapids and, overflowing for several kilometers, forms about forty islands, on which the village of Soroka was once located. In these natural conditions bridges have become a necessary element of intracity communication. On a relatively small old territory of the city, there are about twenty of them (Fig. 14). Unfortunately, several bridges were lost, the longest among them (more than 300 m) was replaced by a concrete one. But all the existing bridges, merging with the space of the river, and buildings, together with the rapids, have created a unique image of this city.

The idea of ​​wooden bridge building at the present time would be incomplete, if we do not note some surviving types of purely "engineering" bridges, among which the most widely used are beam bridges with pile supports of various combinations with frame and brace systems. Multi-span beam bridge on the r. Tartas in Novosibirsk region(50s of the XX century) has a two- and four-row system of pile supports (Fig. 15). In the transverse direction, the legs of the support frames have diagonal braces, and the entire structure of the supports is fastened with steel bolts and pins. The girders are laid on the supports, in turn on them - the flooring of the roadway. The length of the bridge is 66 m. Ice cutters 11 m long are arranged in front of the middle supports.

An important component of a piled and framed bridge is wooden ice cutters. To protect the supports and superstructures from the shock of ice floes, ice cutters are not tied to the bridge supports. Narrow supports are protected by flat ice cutters with one or two rows of piles. With wide supports, hipped-roof ice cutters are used, consisting of several rows of piles. Ice floes approaching the ice cutter, under the influence of inertial forces and water pressure, rise along it and break under the influence of their own weight.

Until now, there are wooden bridges with trusses, which have been widely used since the middle of the 19th century. Spans with Gau-Zhuravsky trusses are the most common timber bridge construction. Such a bridge was built in 1967 on the river. Moshe in the Arkhangelsk region (Fig. 16). Spans with trusses with ride on the bottom blocked the channel spans of the bridge (design span 31.5 m). The outermost spans are covered by spans of a simple beam system with two-tiered girders. The length of the bridge is 146 m. ​​The channel pile supports are protected by free-standing hipped-roof ice cutters.

Another type is bridges with a brace system. In the Plesetsk district of the Arkhangelsk region there is a wooden overpass (a bridge designed to pass one road over another), built in 1939 on the Plesetsk-Kargopol highway, which passes over the local railway, forming an oblique intersection of 42 °. The three-span bridge has frame supports on a plank base (Fig. 17). The two middle supports are completed with a combined brace system, which made it possible to make a middle span. The design of the overpass is typical for bridge structures of the 19th - early 20th centuries. and now practically does not occur. Despite the fact that the bridge is in good condition, it is threatened with destruction.

Currently, there is another type of single-span bridges - suspension bridges found in the Arkhangelsk region. The bridge in the village of Papinskaya, Konosha region (Fig. 18) has the following structure: on both banks of the river there are two log cabins with passage gates in the upper level, metal cables are stretched along the top and bottom of the openings of the frame, fixed to the ground with metal crutches. Along the entire length of the bridge, the upper and lower cables are interconnected by wooden bars (acting as suspensions), and a wooden deck is laid on the lower cables. On both sides of the log cabins, boardwalks are laid. On the river Emtse in the village. Yemets, Arkhangelsk Region, the suspension bridge of the hydrometeorological service was built in 1928 (see the 4th side of the cover). The uncomplicated structure creates a beautiful silhouette against the background of the river, lending lightness to the entire structure. Suspension bridges, which have been widely used since the middle of the 19th century, are now rare.

Wooden engineering bridges were the forerunners of steel and concrete structures and played a certain historical role in their time. It seemed that with the development of professional engineering bridge construction, with the introduction of various new structural systems - strut, arched, hanging, etc. - they had to finally replace ryazhnye, people's bridges, to oust them. However, this did not happen.

People's wooden bridges, having a long history, are examples of the stability of the architectural form, which have been accurately worked out by many generations of builders, carpenters, and folk architects.

In our age of technological progress, the widespread replacement of wooden bridges with modern steel and concrete ones leads to the disappearance of this type of structures in some places. At the same time, in the North of the USSR and in Siberia, where wood is the main building material, they continue to build wooden bridges, especially since wood is a cheap building material that allows quick procurement and processing, allows construction to be carried out in the shortest possible time. Wooden bridge structures, reflecting the ancient culture of the Russian people, link times and generations; even today they are of practical importance and are the most valuable contribution to the cultural heritage of our Motherland.

8. Laskovsky FF Materials for the history of engineering art in Russia. SPb., 1858. Part 1.

9. Novgorod's first chronicle of the senior and junior wording of M .; L., 1950.

10. Punin A. L. The Story of the Leningrad Bridges. L., 1971.

11. Zabella S. Kargopol expedition. - In the book: Architectural heritage. M., 1955, no. 5.

An article about a pedestrian wooden bridge over the Foch Canal in Trogir. The superstructure consists of two oak double-hinged arches with a span of 25 meters with the possibility of simple dismantling. All elements are made of solid oak and are connected with usual joinery joints. All this is done to fit the bridge into the atmosphere of the ancient city.

Trogir is a small historic Croatian town on the Adriatic coast. About 20 km west of Split. Due to its rich architectural and cultural heritage, the historical center of the city is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Register. History Center The city is located on a small island, about 400 m long and 200 m wide, connected to the mainland by a small stone arched bridge on the north side. South side connected by a steel-reinforced concrete movable bridge with the island of Ciovo.
A new wooden bridge is thrown over the Forsa Canal and connects Old city Trogir with parking on the mainland. It is located 600 m west of the existing stone bridge.
The assignment required a traditional-style wooden bridge with a removable superstructure to allow small boats to pass under the bridge. To harmonize with the architecture of the old city, it was allowed to use only natural wood elements and traditional joinery.

The arched structure of the bridge was chosen as one of the oldest natural bearing systems in the history of construction. In addition, the arch allows small boats to navigate the canal and looks elegant.
The superstructure consists of two branches of double-articulated arches 480x680 with a constant radius of 21.7 m, a span of 25 meters. The branches of the arches are located on the sides of the section, and are interconnected by wooden cross beams every 0.8 m with a two-layer plank flooring.

The selected double-hinged arched superstructure is not susceptible to foundation settlement. The foundations are massive reinforced concrete hidden under the staircase of the entrance. The hinges between the arches and the foundation are made of sheet steel.
The arrow of the arches is 4 m, which provided a navigable clearance of 4.5 m. This arrow was chosen based on the balance of aesthetic, pedestrian, navigation and technical requirements.
The width of the passage is 3 m, the total width of the bridge is 4.16 m. The clear distance between the branches of the arches is 3.2 m. The load-bearing elements are made of solid oak on traditional joints. Steel railings with oak handrails, made as transparent as possible.


Each branch of the arch consists of 4 oak beams 240x340 mm, assembled in a section of 480x680 mm. The union of the branch section is made with stainless steel bolts and tenons. The cross beams act as dowels between the beams. Bolts made of steel with a strength of 360 MPa: horizontal - 20 mm, vertical - 24 mm. The bolts are installed in drilled holes in epoxy resin, the contact surfaces of the oak beams are also epoxy coated. Epoxy resin with aggregates is immune to changes in wood moisture and weather conditions... The bolts are tightened to 12 kN for 20 mm and 15 kN for 24 mm. In the calculation of the composite section of the arch, only bolts, spikes and cross beams were taken as dowels, epoxy was not taken into account.
In the longitudinal direction, the beams of the arch are connected by an oblique joint at a length of 1 m. Fig. 5 sec. Longitudinal force transmission is ensured by stainless steel studs. The joints are spaced in length, only one joint falls into each section. The crossbeam is attached to the arch in the middle of the longitudinal joint of the beams. The axial distance between the joints of the beams in the semi-arch is 3.2 m, i.e. 1.6 m in the arch as a whole.

To avoid bending straight beams, great efforts have been made to find oak trees with natural curvature. Small deviations of the curvature from the design were taken so that the correction of the initial curvature of the beam would have as little effect as possible on the decrease in the bearing capacity of the branches of the arch and the superstructure as a whole. Most of the beams are 7.4m long and only two beams are 8.5m long. The curved handrail was also made from naturally curved oak.
The overall rigidity of the superstructure is given by the transverse beams of 220 × 220 mm together with the two-layer cross-planking. They are pinched along the axis of the branches of the arches and cantilever protrude 0.25 m beyond the plane of the arches (Fig. 5b). The cross-section of the cross-beam in the connection is reduced to 120x140 mm, the connection of the cross-beam and the arch branch is provided with screws. The net section of the cross beams is capable of transmitting bending, torsional and shear forces. The location of the cross beams along the axis makes it possible for the branches of the arches to serve as the border of the pedestrian walkway.

The boardwalk is made of two perpendicular layers of 30 mm planed planks in a groove. The first layer of boards is longitudinal, the second is transverse. Longitudinal boards are nailed to the transverse beams with nails at intervals of 2.4 m, so 50% of the boards are nailed in one section. The second layer is connected with nails at the crossbeams and short metal clamps between the crossbeams. Additionally, two layers of flooring are glued with epoxy resin.
Longitudinal and transverse forces are transferred from the timber arches to the concrete foundation via galvanized bearing pivots (fig. 5e). The upper balancer of the hinge covers the heel of the arch with a metal cage, the lower balancer is fixed in the concrete foundation by 4 rods 32x1400 mm. The balancers of the support hinge are connected via a 50 mm pin.

Proper drying of the wood took special attention and a lot of time. Drying was carried out in a drying unit with continuous monitoring of changes in humidity in the depth of the section of each branch of the arch and regulation of temperature and humidity. The wood was dried with high quality, only a few cracks appeared on the elements of the completed bridge. Rice. 6 shows the changes in moisture content along the cross-sectional height of the branches of the arch during drying. Temperature and humidity ranged from 32 to 36 ° C and from 50 to 56%, respectively.

Since the bridge is weathered, the protection of the timber structure is very important to ensure the operational reliability and durability of the timber bridge. Therefore, after fitting and control assembly, all elements were sandblasted to remove all fragile layers of wood. After that, all the wooden elements were dipped into a bath with a preservative composition against fungi, insects, moisture and other harmful effects. Impregnation with a colorless fungicide was carried out with a single immersion. Subsequently, a weather resistant coating was applied in two immersions. The wide cracks were additionally moistened and filled with mortar with a durable plastic sealant. The last layer of protection made in the workshop consisted of immersing the elements in a protective matt varnish.
During final assembly, all wood contact surfaces were epoxy coated and all screw holes filled. The screws and spikes were also dipped in epoxy prior to installation. After the completion of the bridge assembly, the protective layer in the damaged areas was restored, and in addition the entire structure was covered with a layer of varnish. In the future, it is planned to cover the wood with at least two layers of protective varnish every two years.

Some design provisions
The bridge was calculated and designed in accordance with the Eurocodes. The structure was modeled on the spatial elements of arches, crossbeams and boardwalk. The decking above the crossbeams was not included in the calculation of the bearing capacity of the bridge and thus increases the safety factor. The work of the deck was taken into account only when calculating the horizontal displacements by increasing the lateral bending stiffness of the arch.
For the longitudinal joints of the elements of the branches of the arch, a friction coefficient of 0.6 was adopted when calculating the stiffness (displacement) and 0.5 when checking the stress state. All symmetric and asymmetric loading schemes with a pedestrian load of 5 kN / m2 are considered. Wind load is taken from a wind speed of 180 km / h in the direction of the axis of the bridge and vertically. The effect of humidity fluctuations was modeled as a uniform temperature variation of ± 30 ° C along the length of the elements, and a non-uniform variation of ± 10 ° C along the cross-sectional height of the timber elements.
The horizontal spacing of the design elements of the arch is 20 mm. Acceleration of the base for seismic analysis 0.25 g. Seismic forces are calculated by the superposition method using the first 20 modes of free vibration. The accepted value of the coefficient of work is 2.0. The bulk of ships is taken as 100 kN of static lateral horizontal forces in the crown of the arch. Bending moments, torques, longitudinal and transverse forces of all loadings for cross beams in connection with an arch, with a net cross section of a cross beam of 0.12x0.14 m.
The bearing capacity of the superstructure is significantly higher because the deck was not included in the calculation. The vertical movement of the arch is small due to its stiffness. There are no vibration problems under pedestrian traffic. the design frequency of the first mode of the bridge is 3.5 Hz.

Construction and Conclusion
The base under the foundations was reinforced using the "jet-grouting" technology, injecting a liquid binder into the soil under high pressure. The support was concreted "dry" with pumping of leaked water from the pit.
All timber structures of the bridge were made in the factory (Fig. 7), and a control assembly of the arches and crossbeams was carried out (Fig. 8). Then the superstructure was completely assembled at the site near the bridge (Fig. 9). After that, the entire superstructure was put on the supporting hinges by a truck crane (Fig. 10). And finally, stone staircases of approaches, railings with oak handrails, and other finishing works were built. The completed bridge is shown on
rice. 11 and 12.

Rice. 11. Completed bridge. Facade

Rice. 12. Completed bridge.

Client: Administration of Trogir
Design: Professor Jure Radnic PhD, Radnic d.o.o., Split
Building:
Superstructure: "Naprijed Sinj d.o.o.", Sinj
Foundation
And a stone staircase: "Point d.o.o.", Split
Technical control: "Kozina projekt d.o.o.", Trilj

Bridge indicators
Oak forest, m3 38.0
Concrete, m3 112.0
Rebar, t 11.2
Cost, thousand EUR 300.0
Completion date June 2006