Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge

Opened to traffic in 1911, the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge, which connects the Okhta Region to the center just upstream from the Smolny Convent, is one of St. Petersburg's most impressive. Instantly recognizable thanks to the swooping arched girders of its two side spans and the four granite Norman towers that mark the corners of the small central span. Measuring just over 270 meters, the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge, designed by Krovoshein and Apishkov, has an ingenious mechanism that allows the narrow (14.6-meter) central span to be raised in only 30 seconds.