The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian EmpireMain MenuProjectsDashboardsData CatalogMapStoriesGalleriesGamesWho said history was boring?Teach Our ContentCiting the ProjectKelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5The Imperiia Project // Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
The Alexander Bridge over the Volga, with train (postcard; circa 1910)
12021-01-29T11:20:41-05:00Batraki11Baedeker locationplain2021-02-02T13:44:14-05:0053.16722, 48.70056This was an impressive sight. Postcard worthy. A railway bridge spanning the longest river in Europe.
As we passed underneath I crept along the deck, holding the rail, not looking away from the engineered span of iron above my head.
Either way, it turns out to be 1.5 versts in length, which makes it the longest such bridge in all of Europe, and it cost some seven million rubles to build. They started construction in 1876 and finished in 1880, or so said a man next to be on deck. Much of the rock came from the Zhigulev Hills, just upriver. That struck me. For a moment anyway. I read some kind of harmony between nature and man in that detail.
And then there is this: the Alexander-Suizran Bridge is the only thing the connects the rail lines of European Russia to those that lead to Turkestan, Siberia, and eventually to the Pacific coast. Is that not extraordinary?
12021-02-02T13:51:10-05:00What seven millions rubles bought in 19144Guidebook noteplain2021-02-02T14:14:48-05:00Contemporary observers wrote excitedly about the Alexander Bridge. Which makes sense. The bridge was 1.5 versts in length, making it the longest such bridge in all of Europe, and it cost some seven million rubles to build. Construction began in 1876 and ended in 1880. Much of the rock came from the Zhigulev Hills, just upriver.
And then there is this: In 1914, the bridge was the only thing the connected the rail lines of European Russia to those leading to Turkestan, Siberia, and eventually to the Pacific coast.
