Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge is a concrete arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 that spans the Moskva River

Moskva River

The Moskva River is a river that flows through the Moscow and Smolensk Oblasts in Russia, and is a tributary of the Oka River.-Etymology:...

 in Moscow, Russia, immediately east of the Moscow Kremlin

Moscow Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...

. The bridge connects Red Square

Red Square

Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

 with Bolshaya Ordynka street in Zamoskvorechye

Zamoskvorechye

Zamoskvorechye District is a district of Central Administrative Okrug in Moscow, Russia. Population: The district contains the eastern half of historical Zamoskvorechye area , and the territories of Zatsepa Street and Paveletsky Rail Terminal south of the Garden Ring...

. Built in 1936-1937, it was designed by V. S. Kirillov (structural engineering

Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....

) and Alexey Shchusev

Alexey Shchusev

Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev ), 1873, Chişinău—24 May 1949, Moscow) was an acclaimed Russian and Soviet architect whose works may be regarded as a bridge connecting Revivalist architecture of Imperial Russia with Stalin's Empire Style....

 (architectural design).

Moskvoretsky bridge (1829/1872, demolished)

Wooden bridges east of the Kremlin have existed since the fifteenth century, as witnessed by Venetian

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 Ambrosio de Contarini, who travelled through Moscow in 1476.

The first permanent Moskvoretsky bridge was built in 1829, about 50 meters west of the present site. Three wooden arches, each 28 meters long, were supported by stone abutment

Abutment

An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...

s. It was loosely based on Kamennooostrovsky Bridge in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 designed by Agustín de Betancourt

Agustín de Betancourt

Agustín de Betancourt y Molina was a prominent Spanish-Canarian engineer, who worked in Spain, France and Russia. His work ranged from steam engines and balloons to structural engineering and urban planning...

. The bridge burnt down in 1871; after the fire, steel arches and decking were installed on the old abutments.

Bolshoy Moskvoretsky bridge (1937)

In 1935-1938, all the bridges in downtown Moscow were replaced with high capacity bridges. Moskvoretsky Bridge was the first to be completed, and was the only concrete bridge of the 1930s. The bridge was placed at the narrowest point of the Moskva River, west of its predecessor; as a result, blocks of Zaryadye

Zaryadye

Zaryadye is a historical district in Moscow established in 12-13th centuries within Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and Moskva River. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the market rows adjacent to the Red Square.-History:...

 and Balchug

Balchug

Balchug , also known as Bolotny Ostrov , is an island in the very centre of Moscow, Russia, squeezed between the Moskva River and its old river-bed which was turned into the Vodootvodny Canal in 1786...

 were razed to make way for construction.

The main arch of the current bridge consists of three concrete boxes, 92 meters long and 6.1 meters high. The two arches over the embankments are each 42.8 meters long. The bridge has a total width of 40 meters (8 lanes), and its total length with approach ramps is 554 meters. Although it is a concrete structure, Alexey Shchusev

Alexey Shchusev

Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev ), 1873, Chişinău—24 May 1949, Moscow) was an acclaimed Russian and Soviet architect whose works may be regarded as a bridge connecting Revivalist architecture of Imperial Russia with Stalin's Empire Style....

finished the bridge in pink granite slabs to create the illusion that the bridge is actually built in stone.