Ruzovsky Bridge

Ruzovsky Bridge crossing the waters of the Obvodny Canal is located just west of Vitebsk railway and connects Rybinskaya Street and Ruzovskaya Street of St. Petersburg.

In 1905 a wooden beam crossing was built there. It derived the name from Ruzovskaya Street which in turn was named after Ruza city in Moscow Province. The bridge connected the residential areas of the Semenovskaya Sloboda settlement on the north bank of the Obvodny Canal with overgrown industrial enterprises of the south bank.

In 1914 there was built a wooden three-span simple bridge with metal spans on wooden supports for passing trucks.

In the winter of the Siege of 1941-1942 the bridge was dismantled for firewood and probably saved lives of ones warmed by the heat of lighted fires.

In 1962 the bridge was restored again to unload traffic during the reconstruction of Novo-Moskovsky Bridge.

In 1985 the three-span wooden bridge was reconstructed again. At the time it was the last wooden bridge across the Obvodny Canal.

The bridge was demolished in 1994 during the construction of the permanent bridge. The new crossing is a single-span metal simple bridge. The metal superstructure has constant height with orthotropic roadway slab as part of the main beams. There are six main beams in cross section. The bridge abutments are massive reinforced concrete ones and faced with grey granite.

In June 1997 double concrete guardrail with a metal jacket was installed.

In November 2008 expansion joints of ThormaJoint type were arranged on the roadway and sidewalks.

It is a known fact that today Ruzovsky Bridge is considered by St. Petersburg automobilists as one of the sinister places in the city. This opinion is formed among townspeople because from the both sides of Ruzovsky Bridge ones are stuck in a traffic jam. Interestingly that there are no apparent objective reasons resulted in such unpleasant phenomenon. Most likely undisciplined drivers themselves play the main role in the hindrance to traffic, because they tried to make a turn regardless of the flashing yellow or red lights. Therefore cars traveling from all sides are at the intersection simultaneously and of course that is so extremely difficult to pass around. The situation is worsen by the fact that nonmaneuvering heavyweight transport often cross the bridge and result in traffic jams.