Nicholas Chain Bridge

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.

Nicholas Chain Bridge
Николаевский цепной мост
Coordinates50°26′32″N 30°33′52.30″E
CrossesDnieper
LocaleKyiv, Ukraine
Characteristics
DesignSuspension bridge
Longest span776 metres (2,546 ft)
History
Construction start1848
Construction end1853
Closed1920 (destroyed)
Location

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

Media related to Nicholas Chain Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

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