List of bridges in Saint Petersburg

There are more than 342 bridges in the city limits of Saint Petersburg, Russia. This is a partial list of the most famous ones.

Peter the Great was designing the city as another Amsterdam and Venice, with canals instead of streets and citizens skillful in sailing. Initially, there were only about ten bridges constructed in the city, mainly across ditches and minor creeks. By Peter's plans, in the summer months, the citizens were supposed to move around in boats, and in the winter months when the water froze to move in sledges. However, after Peter's death, new bridges were built, as it was a much easier way of transportation. Temporary ponton bridges were used in the summertime. The first permanent bridge of bricks and stones across the main branch of the Neva river appeared in 1850.

Today, there are more 342 bridges over canals and rivers of various sizes, styles and constructions, built at different periods. Some of them are small pedestrian bridges, such as Bank and Lion bridges, others are huge transport arteries such as almost one kilometer long Alexander Nevsky Bridge. There are about 800 small bridges across hundreds of smaller ponds and lakes in public parks and gardens, and over 100 bridges in various ports, marinas, yacht clubs and private industries. The total number of bridges in Saint Petersburg is over a thousand. The nearly 100-meter-wide Blue Bridge, claimed to be the widest in the world, spans the Moyka River. There are bridges designed in various styles with such decorations as statues, lamplights, lions, horses, sphinxes and griffins, and there are modern styles lacking any decor. Thanks to the intricate web of canals, Saint Petersburg is often called the "Venice of the North" which is a popular poetic name for the northern capital.

The names of the bridges are of a great diversity as well. Some take their names from geographic locations — such as English, Italian and Egyptian bridges. Other names refer to the places such as Postoffice, Theater and Bank bridges. Many bridges are named after famous people - Alexander Nevsky, Peter the Great, Lomonosov bridges. There are "colored" bridges — Red, Green, Blue and Yellow bridges.

A familiar view of Saint Petersburg is a drawbridge across the Neva. Every night during the navigation period from April to November, 22 bridges across Neva and main canals are drawn to let ships pass in and out of the Baltic Sea into the Volga-Baltic waterway system. A calculated schedule with precise time of consecutive opening and closing for each bridge is maintained to guarantee passage of cargo ships and tankers at a precisely controlled speed, in order to have at least one bridge at a time staying connected to ensure passage for firefighters, police, ambulances and other ground transportation.

Facts by numbers

 * There are 342 bridges inside the city limits, 5 in Kronstadt, 54 in Tsarskoye Selo, 51 in Petergof, 16 in Pavlovsk and 7 in Oranienbaum.
 * The total length of all the city bridges is approximately 16 km
 * 22 are drawbridges
 * The longest bridge is Big Obukhovsky Bridge across Neva River (2824 m)
 * The widest bridge is Blue Bridge across Moyka River (97.3 m), which is also claimed to be the widest bridge in the world by some sources, however the Big Bridge in Lockport New York is 400 ft wide.

Bridges across Neva and Great Neva
Bridges are numbered downstream, with initials to determine which distributary they cross.

Bridges across the Griboyedov Canal

 * Theater Bridge
 * Novo-Konyushenny Bridge
 * Italian Bridge
 * Kazansky Bridge
 * Bank Bridge
 * Flour Bridge
 * Stone Bridge
 * Demidov Bridge
 * Hay Bridge
 * Kokushkin Bridge
 * Voznesensky Bridge
 * Podyachensky Bridge
 * Bridge of Four Lions
 * Kharlamov Bridge
 * Novo-Nikolsky Bridge
 * Krasnogvardeysky Bridge
 * Pikalov Bridge
 * Mogilyovsky Bridge
 * Alarchin Bridge
 * Kolomensky Bridge
 * Malo-Kalinkin Bridge

Bridges across Fontanka

 * Prachechny Bridge
 * Panteleymonovsky Bridge
 * Belinsky Bridge
 * Anichkov Bridge
 * Lomonosov Bridge
 * Letushkov Bridge
 * Semenovsky Bridge
 * Gorstkin Bridge
 * Obukhovsky Bridge
 * Izmailovsky Bridge
 * Krasnoarmeysky Bridge
 * Egyptian Bridge
 * English Bridge
 * Staro-Kalinkin Bridge
 * Galerny Bridge

Bridges across Moyka

 * First Engineer Bridge
 * First Sadovy Bridge
 * Second Sadovy Bridge
 * Malo-Konyushenny Bridge
 * Bolshoy Konyushenny Bridge
 * Pevchesky Bridge
 * Green Bridge
 * Red Bridge
 * Blue Bridge
 * Fonarny Bridge
 * Pochtamtsky Bridge
 * Potseluev Bridge
 * Krasnoflotsky Bridge
 * Hrapovitsky Bridge
 * Korabelny Bridge

Bridges across Winter Canal

 * Hermitage Bridge
 * First Winter Bridge
 * Second Winter Bridge

Bridges across the Kryukov Canal

 * Smezhny Bridge
 * Staro-Nikolsky Bridge
 * Kashin Bridge
 * Torgovy Bridge
 * Dekabristov Bridge
 * Matveevsky Bridge

Bridges across the Obvodny Canal

 * Shlisserburg Bridge
 * Atamansky Bridge
 * Nikolaevsky railway Bridge
 * Predtechny Bridge
 * Novo-kamenniy bridge
 * Borovoy Bridge
 * Ippodromny Bridge
 * Tsarskoselsky railway Bridge
 * Ruzovsky Bridge
 * Mozhaysky Bridge
 * Gazovy Bridge
 * Maslyny Bridge
 * Novo-Moskovky Bridge
 * Warsaw Bridge
 * Baltic Bridge
 * Novo-Peterofsky Bridge
 * Krasnooktyabrsky Bridge
 * Tarakanovsky Bridge
 * Borisov Bridge
 * Novo-Kalinkin Bridge
 * Stepan Razin Bridge

Bridges across the Okhta

 * Armashevsky Bridge
 * Bolshoy Ilinsky Bridge
 * Industrial Bridge
 * Irinovsky Bridge
 * Komarovsky Bridga
 * Malookhtinsky Bridge
 * Obyezdnoy Bridge
 * Utkin Bridge
 * Shaumyana Bridge

Bridges across Okkervil

 * Utkin Bridge
 * Zanevsky Bridge
 * Yablonovsky Bridge
 * Rossijsky Bridge
 * Kollontay Bridge
 * Podvoisky Bridge
 * Tovarischesky Bridge
 * Dybenko Bridge

Bridges across Smolenka (river)

 * Uralsky Bridge
 * Smolensky Bridge
 * Nalichny Bridge
 * Shipbuilders' Bridge

Bridges across the Swan Canal

 * Upper Swan Bridge
 * Lower Swan Bridge