Early next month, City Hall will announce a tender competition to rebuild the oldest bridge in St. Petersburg, the Lieutenant Schmidt bridge. The Lieutenant Schmidt bridge is a strategically important crossing: if closed, it cuts Vasilyevsky off from the mainland. Only two bridges - Lieutenant Schmidt and Palace - connect Vasilyevsky Island with the city's central and southern districts.

The cost of the reconstruction project is estimated at between 1 billion and 1.5 billion rubles, the Regnum news agency reported Tuesday. The engineering contractor will be selected by May and should complete the engineering phase by February 2005. Work on the bridge should start in June 2005 and be finished in 2006.

Trams should continue across the bridge throughout the reconstruction period. Freight traffic, on the contrary, will be prohibited during repair work, Regnum reported.

There are 20 drawbridges in St. Petersburg. The city's main bridges will be raised every night to allow navigation through the summer season, starting on April 10.

News source: www.sptimes.ru
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