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The Blue Bridge (russian: Си́ний мост, ''Siniy most''), is a bridge that spans the
Moika River The Moyka (russian: Мо́йка /MOY-ka/, also latinised as Moika) is a secondary, in comparison with the Neva River in Saint Petersburg that encircles the central portion of the city, effectively making it an island or a group of islands ...
in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. The Blue Bridge is the widest bridge in Saint Petersburg and is sometimes claimed to be the widest bridge in the world – a claim, however, that has not been recognized by international
reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...
s, such as the ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. The Blue Bridge spans the Moika River and is located in front of the
Mariinsky Palace Mariinsky Palace (), also known as Marie Palace, was the last neoclassical Imperial residence to be constructed in Saint Petersburg. It was built between 1839 and 1844, designed by the court architect Andrei Stackenschneider. It houses the ci ...
at
Saint Isaac's Square Saint Isaac's Square or Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad (russian: Исаа́киевская пло́щадь), known as Vorovsky Square (russian: Площадь Воровского) between 1923 and 1944, in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a major city ...
in city's historic centre. The first
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
bridge on the site was designed in 1805 by the architect
William Heste William Hastie (russian: Василий Иванович Гесте; c.1753 – 4 June 1832) was a Russian architect, civil engineer and town planner of Scottish descent. His name is also transliterated back from Russian as William Heste or, se ...
,Anthony Cross, ‘Hastie, William (1754/5–1832)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 200
accessed 28 Nov 2013
/ref> and built in 1818. This bridge was a single-span bridge resting on stone supports, and measured 41 metres across. In 1842–1844, the bridge was widened on its northern side to its present width of 97.3 metres - just as wide as the adjacent Isaac's Square. Soon after the bridge was widened, there were rumours that the new width of the bridge was 99.9 metres instead of the actual 97.3. This rumour even made it into some official booklets and textbooks. Today, most of the Blue Bridge serves as a parking lot. The bridge's name dates from a 19th-century tradition of color-coding the bridges crossing the Moika River. Like other colored bridges, the Blue Bridge got its name from the color of its sides facing the river. Today only four colored bridges survive, the other ones being the Red Bridge, the Green Bridge and the Yellow Bridge respectively. Three of them kept their original names, while Yellow Bridge has been renamed to Pevchesky Bridge.


See also

* List of bridges in Saint Petersburg


References

*Yuriy Vladimirovich Novikov ''et al.'', ''Mosty i naberezhnye Leningrada'', Lenizdat : Saint Petersburg (Russia), *Michail Samoylovich Bunin, ''Mosty Leningrada : Ocherky istorii i architektury mostov Peterburga-Petrograda-Leningrada'', Leningrad: Stroyizdat, 1986. {{coord, 59.9316, N, 30.3089, E, type:landmark, display=title Bridges in Saint Petersburg Bridges completed in 1818 Saint Isaac's Square Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg