Shining flying bridges: the capital's bridges with the most spectacular lighting

Bridges Day is celebrated this week. These structures play an important role in the city’s life. The capital's bridges are especially beautiful at night, when the backlighting is turned on, Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his VKontakte social network.

 

Bolshoy Moskvoretsky bridge

The Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, connecting the Red Square and the Vasilievsky Spusk square with the Bolshaya Ordynka Street, is gold-shining.

Architectural illumination is created by over 800 lighting fixtures. The light image is based on fire-colored opal. Parapets, facades of archways and abutments are illuminated with golden light, and the interior arches are illuminated with red spotlights. Thus, the bridge becomes a continuation of the architectural lighting of the Kremlin.

Several centuries ago, this place was the oldest river crossing in Moscow — a pontoon bridge between the Tverskaya and Serpukhovskaya roads. The modern structure was built in 1938, and the bridge was overhauled for its first and only time in 2018.

The work took 13 months. Specialists renewed the structures, cleaned all light elements from dirt using a special compound and replaced lamps.

Krymsky Bridge

The Krymsky Bridge is the only suspension bridge in the capital. It is part of the Garden Ring and connects the Krymskaya Square with the Krymskiy Val Street.

On weekdays, the bridge glows with even golden light reminding of the rutile mineral shade. Almost 500 LED fittings transform the structure into a kind of tiara over the Moskva River.

On holidays and weekends, the shades smoothly change, reminiscent of the Polar lights. The dynamic effect is created by multimedia LED lighting that changes the brightness of the light and makes smooth color transitions.

Patriarshy Bridge

The pedestrian bridge connecting the Prechistenskaya embankment and the Bersenevskaya embankment immerses the city into the atmosphere of the 19th century.

From above, the bridge is lighted by a line of antique-style lanterns that illuminate the pedestrian zone, and from below the structure is illuminated by diffused light lamps with a color mixing system. The light image is based on the colors of silver and quartz, but the arches can change color to green, purple, blue, red and white in 15 second intervals. Over 200 lamps, 500 spot lights and LEDs are used for lighting.

Pushkinsky (former Andreevsky) pedestrian overbridge

The Pushkinsky pedestrian overbridge is famous for its proximity to the Neskuchny Garden, Gorky Park, as well as magnificent views opening from the galleries.

It was constructed on the foundation structures of the Andreevsky Bridge, built in 1905-1907. The best bridge builders of that time, Lavr Proskuryakov and Petr Kamentsev, were working out this most complex engineering solution. The architectural project belonged to famous Russian architect Alexander Pomerantsev.

Architectural lighting appeared in 1999. The archway is alternately highlighted in blue and orange, imitating the colors of gold, quartz and variscite. Almost 1,400 lighting fittings were used for illuminating: about 900 spot lights and around 500 lamps.

Bohdan Khmelnitsky Bridge

The illuminated Bohdan Khmelnitsky pedestrian overbridge appeared next to the Kievskaya metro station in 2001. The construction used the arched structure of the Stary Krasnoluzhsky Bridge in a yellow-green color palette.

Over 6,900 lighting fixings provide contour backlight and soft lighting under the dome. From a distance, the bridge resembles a scattering of clear cut gems.

Novospassky Bridge

The Novospassky Bridge is named after a nearby monastery. A compact three-span structure connects the Paveletsky railway station area with the Krestyanskaya Zastava square.

The bridge is considered to be one of the two oldest bridges on the Moskva River; it is constructed on the bridge abutments of the 1911. A superstructure was added in 1937, and load bearing arches and the superstructures were replaced with the steel ones.

Over 1,100 lighting fixings are used for architectural lighting of the bridge. When choosing a color palette, lighting designers based it on two rock minerals: vanadinite and malachite. Here, a brilliant diamond shine of warm white light accentuates the external beauty of the bridge, while a light cold color skillfully illuminates the arches from the inside.

You can admire views of Zamoskvorechye district and Taganka district both from the bridge and from the nearby pier.

Bolshoy and Maly Ustyinsky Bridges

Initially, the Bolshoi Ustyinsky Bridge was built in 1881 down the mouth of the Yauza river. The modern structure retained only the old bridge name. The embankments reconstruction due to opening of the Moskva Canal in 1938 rebuilt the bridge upstream. Today it connects the Yauzsky Boulevard with the Sadovnichesky Drive.

There is the Maly Ustyinsky Bridge close by, built in the same year. It retained the name of the old metal Maly Ustyinsky Bridge that existed here since 1883.

At night, the structures are illuminated in cold white. 750 lighting fixings were used in the architectural lighting of the bridges, and the additional festive mode highlights them vividly on special dates for the capital.

Tessinsky Bridge

The Tessinsky Bridge, built in 1887, was also dismantled during the embankments reconstruction in the 1930s. More than half a century later, by 1992, the pedestrian overbridge of the same name was erected a short distance downstream of the Yauza River. People also nicknamed it the Teploset, since the heat pipeline is laid in the middle of the structure.

‘The outer side of the bridge is framed by 120 meters of warm white LED strip, while the inner arches are illuminated by yellow lighting. The water reflection makes the bridge look like a golden ring with agate through which Yauza is running.

The unusual view of the bridge and the nearby skyscraper on the Kotelnicheskaya embankment attract artists, photographers and sculptors here.

Borodinsky Bridge

The Borodinsky Bridge connects the Smolenskaya and the Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya streets. Built to commemorate the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812, it became the real monument to the Battle of Borodino. The bridge entrances are decorated with a rounded colonnade, obelisks and attributes of military valor.

Muscovites rightfully consider it one of the most beautiful bridges in the city. At a distance away you can enjoy a view of the Lomonosov Moscow State University and Moscow-City, and at sunset one admires rays of the descending sun that illuminates the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. At night, the bridge is in light blue glow reflected on the dark surface of the Moskva River. 230 lighting fixings were used for illumination. Recently, the lighting system was equipped with a new up-to-date control system that turns lamps on and off remotely,and monitors their serviceability too.

The program of the bridges architectural lighting was implemented in 2013-2014. The concept of illumination was based on the idea of using inorganic natural substances: natural formations, minerals, crystals. The new architectural and artistic illumination made the capital's bridges another hallmark of the city. Over three thousand 147 kilowatts lighting fixings were installed on 22 bridges in Moscow, and more than 13 thousand meters of cables were laid. Besides, the new LED lighting is energy efficient, saves money and taking care of the environment.