Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge

Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge (Russian: Большой Устьинский мост) is a steel arch bridge that spans Moskva River near the mouth of Yauza River, connecting the Boulevard Ring with Zamoskvorechye district in Moscow, Russia. It was completed in May 1938 by V.M.Vakhurkin (structural engineering), G.P.Golts and D.M.Sobolev (architectural design).

It is surrounded by three lesser bridges, two across Yauza and one across Vodootvodny Canal: Maly Ustinsky Bridge, Astakhovsky (Yauzsky) Bridge, Komissariatsky Bridge, also described on this page.

The first Ustinsky Bridge across Moskva River was built in 1881, to a very common triple-span arch design by V.N.Speyer. Three spans were 39.5, 44.5 and 39.5 meters long and 19.2 meters wide (4 lanes, including two tram tracks); each span was suspended by 12 riveted arches. All downtown bridges built in 1880-1911 over Moskva River followed this triple-span shape; none survived in their original shape (Borodinsky and Novospassky still stand on original pylons, but arches were replaced with plate girders). As the archive photo shows, bridge and embankment traffic cross each other in the same level. This was probably the most important reason for replacing the bridge in the 1930s (others being insufficient width and shipping clearance).

Lower Yauza river had numerous bridges, dams and water mills since Middle Ages. The 1853 city plan shows a total of four such crossings. One was eventually demolished without replacement, three others correspond (west to east) to present-day Maly Ustinsky, Astakhovsky (Yauzsky) and Tessinsky bridges. Most important of these, Yauzsky Bridge, connecting city center with eastbound roads, was rebuilt in stone in 1804. In 1812, it was in the path of retreating Russian Army when it evacuated Moscow after Battle of Borodino. Yauzsky Bridge was renamed Astakhovsky after I.T.Astakhov, a steelworkers' leader killed on the bridge during a rally on February 28, 1917; this title remains official to date.

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