The Okhta River Embankment

Embankment parameters

The Okhta River Embankment is erected on both river banks from Chelyabinsky Bridge to Malookhtinsky Bridge in Krasnogvardeysky District of St. Petersburg.

The uninterrupted reinforcement of the Okhta bank can be found only on the right bank downstream Shaumyan Bridge to the Sverdlovskaya Embankment which high wall comes on the Okhta bank.

The banks are mainly reinforced with a low banked wall on the pile foundation with the green slope. Upstream, the banks are reinforced in places adjoining to new built bridges.

Embankment history

Until the middle of the 20th century, the Okhta River banks were wooden strengthened.

Upon the Great Patriotic War, reconstruction and landscaping of the residential areas located along Bolsheokhtinsky and Sredneokhtensky Prospects were carried out. In this connection, the Okhta banks were also rearranged.

In 1968 during the embankment construction from Shaumyan Bridge downstream to Magnitogorskaya Street, a high embankment wall was required with coping stone level up to +6 m. The transport highway at the embankment level went near the bank leaving aside the lowered territory of the Znamya Truda production enterprise n.a. Lepse where in the 1970s redevelopment of the plant buildings and structures was started. Simultaneously with the embankment construction, a retaining wall with metal fence was built to guard the plant territory.

In 1977 a bridge for Central Circular Road was erected including adjacent walls of the embankment.

In 1981 the low wall of the embankment along the left bank was extended downstream (450 m). In 1982 an embankment high wall was built on the right bank within Leningradorgstroy experimental plant area. The wall design was made jointly by Lengiprorechtrans, Leningradorgstroy, and Lenmosttrest. The purpose of the design was a new embankment structure development as a high vertical anchored wall (on vertical piles) from modular small reinforced concrete blocks with a small-grooved front surface. TThis allowed for avoiding the granite facing of the embankment wall.

In 1986-1987 the existing low wall of the embankment at Lenmostotrest Base was rebuilt into a high wall (of 282 m length) which appearance was the same as the high wall appearance on the opposite bank. The difference was that the standard anchor was replaced for additional row of inclined anchor piles which were concreted with pile foundation of the existing low wall.

In 1984 the Neva River banks near Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge and the Okhta River mouth were radically modernized. At Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge a high stone embankment was built with overpass which ensures transport movement in two levels. At the same time Malookhtisky Bridge overlapping the Okhta River mouth was opened. On the Okhta River left bank, retaining walls were built as well as the embankment wall section and descent adjacent to left bank support of Malookhtisky Bridge from upstream.

In 1992 Armashevsky Bridge across the Okhta River was built with small parts of the embankments adjacent on both banks.

Additional information

The Okhta River is the largest tributary of the Neva River within the city boundaries. It goes in the north-east of St. Petersburg and in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Region, the total river length is 96 km.

The Okhta River banks between its tributaries – Okkervil and Lubja – were used as a summer resort. Okhta dairy women were well known to many citizens.