Syzran Bridge

The famous Alexander Railway Bridge. Opened for traffic on August 30, 1880.

The Syzran Bridge across the Volga River near Syzran, was designed by Nikolai Belelyubsky and Konstantin Mikhailovsky. It was the first rail bridge across the Volga in its lower reaches. Opened by Konstantin Posyet in 1880 as a part of the Samara-Zlatoust Railway.

The bridge's diagonal system had 13 spans, each 107 metres (351 ft) long. It continued to be the longest in Europe over a sustained period of time with a total length of 1,483 metres (4,865 ft).

Initially, the bridge was called Alexandrovsky commemorating the 25th anniversary of the reign of the emperor Alexander II of Russia. After the October revolution, the bridge was renamed in Syzransky.

In 1918, during the Russian Civil War, two spans of the bridge were detonated by the retreating troops of Komuch supporters, but were quickly restored.

After the Soviet collapse, the bridge received back its old name, the "new" still remained. Thus, the bridge has two names (Alexandrovsky and Syzransky).

In 1949, the decision on creation of a second track on the bridge was accepted, the building of which was completed in 1957.

In 1980, the tanker "Volgoneft 268" crashed into the bridge, but the damage turned out to be not serious.

In 2004, a total renovation of the bridge was completed, during which the original spans were replaced with new ones.

On August 27, 2010, a commemorative stele was set up on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the bridge's opening.

External links

• Media related to Syzran Bridge at Wikimedia Commons