Kyiv, historically situated on the right bank of the Dnieper River, now covers both banks of the river whose width, as it flows through the city, reaches several hundred meters. Additionally, several tributaries join the Dnieper inside or just north or south of the historic city. Currently there are eight bridges spanning across the river and a few dozen bridges across the canals and Dnieper tributaries.
Due to the river's width and location, constructing bridges throughout the history of Kyiv has consistently been desirable yet highly challenging.
Temporary floater bridges were known to have existed since the 12th century. Stationary bridges existed in Kyiv from the mid-19th century, but none of them survived the turbulent events that followed the 1917 Russian Revolution.
List of bridges Existing bridges Picture Name Architect Usage Length OpenedПарковий міст, also Lovers' BridgeYevhen PatonPedestriansРибальський залізничний містYevhen PatonRailwayДарницький містMykhailo RudenkoRailwayPaton BridgeМіст імені ПатонаYevhen PatonAutomobilesTrams (1953–2004)Парковий містAleksei ZavarovPedestriansРибальський вантовий містAbram GoldshteinAutomobilesRusanivskyi BridgeРусанівський містAutomobilesRusanivskyi BridgeРусанівський містAutomobilesRusanivskyi BridgeРусанівський містAutomobilesMetro BridgeМіст МетроHeorhiy FuksAutomobilesMetroРусанівський метромістHeorhiy FuksAutomobilesMetroВенеційський містOleg IliashenkoPedestriansRusanivskyi FootbridgeРусанівський містPedestriansRusanivskyi FootbridgeРусанівський містPedestriansPivnichnyi BridgeПівнічний містMikhail KrasnoshteinAutomobilesPivdennyi BridgeПівденний містHeorhiy FuksAutomobilesMetroHeavenly Hundred BridgeМіст Небесної сотніPedestriansHavanskyi BridgeГаванський містYuriy BorodkinAutomobilesDarnytskyi Railway and Automobile Bridge CrossingДарницький залізнично-автомобільний мостовий перехідOleg ZavarzinAutomobilesRailwayPedestrian and Cycling Bridge over Volodymyrskyi DescentПішохідно-велосипедний міст через Володимирський узвізAndriy MyrhorodskyiPedestriansPodilskyi Bridge CrossingПодільський мостовий перехідHeorhiy FuksAutomobilesMetroАвтомобільний міст на Оболонський острівAutomobilesPedestriansПішохідний міст на Оболонський острівAndriy MyrhorodskyiPedestriansVilnius BridgeВільнюський міст (northern Pedestrian Bridge to Obolonskyi Island)Pedestrians
Destroyed bridges Picture Name Architect Usage Length Opened DestroyedMykolaivskyi Chain BridgeМиколаївський ланцюговий містCharles VignolesPedestriansTrams Darnytskyi Railroad BridgeДарницький залізничний містAmand StruveRailway Rusanivskyi BridgeРусанівський містVladimir ApyshkovPedestriansTrams Міст Євгенії БошYevhen PatonAutomobiles Наводницький містKonstantin YakovlevAutomobiles
History Early history According to the chronicles, the earliest floating bridge across the Dnieper River in the area was built in the 1115. It was located near Vyshhorod or, according to different accounts, near the Vydubychi Monastery. Records exist about another floater in the 17th century with stationary approaches from the shores.
Such bridges could only be temporary, as the Dnieper freezes over in most winters at Kyiv's latitude, and ice drift each spring remain a concern even for modern bridges. Additionally, the river current was especially strong before the Dnieper was dammed in the 20th century. Therefore, the cross-river traffic was carried by boats and ferries for many centuries.
First stationary bridges: late 19th to early-20th century From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, Kyiv was served by two stationary bridges. Both bridges had similar fates. Built at the times of the Industrial Revolution in the Russian Empire these engineering masterpieces of their time survived World War I and the Russian Civil War. Both were blown up in 1920 by the Polish troops retreating from Kyiv following the joint Polish-Ukrainian anti-Soviet Kyiv offensive.
Nicholas Chain Bridge
The first stationary bridge in Kyiv was built between 1848 and 1853. This -long Nicholas Bridge was a chain suspension bridge rested on five pillars. Being one of the largest and most beautiful bridges in Europe, it was the pride of the city until it was blown up in 1920 by the Polish troops. The heavily damaged bridge was not subject to the restoration and in 1925 a new bridge was constructed in its place under the name Yevheniya Bosch Bridge (see below).Kiev1930 rozkladay.kiev.ua
Struve (Darnytskyi) Railroad Bridge
The Struve Railroad Bridge, Kyiv's second stationary bridge, was built in 1868–1870 with the construction supervision conducted personally by Amand Struve. This over 1 kilometer long railroad truss bridge was initially named to its constructor, engineer Struve. Standing on 13 piers, over long, the bridge was the longest in Europe at that time. During the construction Struve first in the Russian Empire used caisson method to lay the foundation . On February 17, 1870 the first train by the Kyiv-Kursk railroad company arrived through the bridge to the Kyiv railroad station. Similarly to the Nicholas Bridge, the Struve Bridge survived World War I and the Civil war, but was blown up in 1920 by the retreating Polish troops (see: Kyiv offensive).
Rusanivsky bridge
The bridge was built in 1906 and was blown up in 1943 by the retreating forces of Nazi Germany. Rusanivsky bridge connected the Darnytsia region with the city of Kyiv by the Brovary chaussée (highway). The bridge was designed by architect V.Apishkov. In 1965 in its place was erected the Metro Bridge and the Rusanivsky Metropolitan Bridge (extension of the first) which both are part of the Svyatoshyno-Brovary Subway Line (SBL).
Between World War I and World War II New bridges were built in the early Soviet years but were destroyed in the first months of the 1941 Nazi German invasion. Restored by forced labor of war prisoners and civilians during German occupation they were blown up again by Germans when they retreated from Kyiv in November 1943.
Bosch bridges
Within months after the Polish troops blew up the original chain bridge, that very summer 1920 the Ukrainian engineer Evgeny Paton proposed the reconstruction project that would have reused the old chains to be lifted from under water. However, rusting made the metallic parts of the old bridge unusable and for the following two years Paton worked on several projects of the Nicholas bridge's restoration. He ended up proposing to construct a totally new bridge but this proposal was declined by the supporters of the reusing of the old elements from underwater. The year of 1923 passed in arguing between the two proposals. The construction overseen by Paton was finished by 1925. The was named after the former Soviet People's Secretary of Internal Affairs and a fierce Bolshevik, Yevgeniya Bosch.
Following the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, the bridge was destroyed on September 18, 1941, by retreating Soviet forces. A pontoon bridge was built on its place by forced labour under German occupation, which was destroyed again by German troops retreating from Kyiv.
Darnytskyi Railroad Bridge The replacement Darnytskyi railroad bridge was built in the early 1920s but shared the fate of the Bosch Bridge. Destroyed in the first months of the Great Patriotic War, it was restored during German occupation by forced labor, and was destroyed again by retreating German troops.
During the Battle of Kyiv, Red Army's attempt to catch the bridge by landing forces was unsuccessful. The Germans blew up the bridge under the eyes of the Soviet landing force unit. The landing unit was disbanded for the operation failure.
Immediately after the liberation a temporary wooden bridge was built at the location of the blown up Darnytskyi bridge by the Red Army engineers in the record thirteen-day time (some sources cite thirty days) in the urgency to facilitate the pursuit of the German army on its retreat from Ukraine. The record short construction time plan was met despite the frequent German bombing raids. 50,000 Kyivites took part in the bridge construction.
Underwater tunnels
A few years before World War II the Soviet government planned two underground railroad lines to be laid underneath the bedrock of Dnieper river. One tunnel line (Northern) would have stretched from the Obolon neighborhood (Obolon Raion) and to what is known as Vygurivshchyna (Desna Raion) near Voskresenska Slobidka on the left bank of Dnieper in the close proximity of Troieschyna. Another line (Southern) was planned to cross the Dnieper from the Zhukiv Island to Osokorky (Darnytsia Raion). The project came up in a fear that in case of a war the bridges over the Dnieper were a vulnerable part of the regional transport infrastructure, and tunnels might be a long-term strategic solution.
The construction started in 1936 and was planned to be finished sometime in 1944. The NKVD oversaw the project, drafting hundreds of military, civilian and prison workers to work on it. The underdeveloped technology of the time required special makeshift caissons (vertical mines for ventilation and soil extraction) to be built in the middle of the river. Due to technical failures and the start of the war, the construction was never finished or even disclosed to the public. The builders were able only to connect the Right Bank with the close Zhukiv Island (where the present-day southern port is situated). The flooded entrance to the tunnel and abandoned caissons can now be seen in the forests and bays of Holosiivskyi Raion. Contemporary amateur researchers believe that a large secret base component of the project, including a train station, barracks and mass graves of workers, are also located in the depths of the tunnels.
After the start of World War II all tunnel construction (known as the Construction No.1) was suspended and afterwards recognized as unreasonable. Nonetheless, the entrances to the unfinished tunnels, which are mostly unguarded, still exist around the mentioned neighborhoods.
Modern bridges
Note: Bridges are listed southwards along the river flow.
Pivnichnyi Bridge
The road-only Pivnichnyi Bridge () (until February 2018 the bridge was named Moskovskyi BridgeKyiv's Moscow bridge renamed, UNIAN (22 February 2018) kiev.unian.info), designed by the architect A.V.Dobrovolsky and engineered by G.B.Fux, was built in 1976. It is a cable-stayed bridge, with the beam of the main span being held by a cluster of steel ropes which are fixed to a 115 meters tall A-pylon. The bridge consists of two spans: a long and wide span across the Dnieper and a long, wide span across the Desyonka, a Dnieper tributary.
The northernmost of the city bridges, Pivnichnyi Bridge is a key structure on the northern end of the Kyiv Smaller Ring Road, connecting Pochaina to the densely populated north-eastern residential neighborhoods, mainly Troieschyna. From the moment of its construction the bridge was built as a high-speed motorway, which it remains to this day.
Rybalskyi Railroad Bridge The Rybalskyi Railroad Bridge () is made of steel trusses. It was originally built in 1929 and was known as Petrovskyi Bridge at that time. Like other bridges, it was blown up in the course of World War II, but was not heavily damaged and was reopened in 1944.
The Rybalskyi Railroad Bridge completes the railway circle around Kyiv. However, the bridge is limited to slow-speed rail traffic due to its age.
Harbor bridges
Rybalskyi (Fisherman's) Bridge A steel bridge connects Podil neighborhood to the Rybalskyi Peninsula over the Kyiv Harbor. In the 1990s, the bridge was found unsafe for automobile traffic and since 2001 it was reserved for pedestrians only. The bridge was fenced off from February 2, 2009 and set to be dismantled., Ukrainian News Agency (February 5, 2009) In 2019 the bridge was closed for pedestrians in preparation for its demolition.
Havanskyi Bridge