The Alexander Railway Bridge across the Volga River

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

 near Syzran

Syzran

Syzran is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: It was founded in 1683 as a fortress, and was granted town status in 1796. One tower from the 17th-century fortress still stands...

, so named after the reigning emperor Alexander II

Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...

, was designed by Nikolai Belelyubsky and Konstantin Mikhailovsky

Konstantin Mikhailovsky

Konstantin Yakovlevich Mikhailovsky was a Russian engineer of Ukrainian origin.-Works:Mikhailovsky designed the Alexander Railway Bridge across the Volga River near Syzran, the first bridge across the lower Volga and at the time the longest bridge in Europe.Mikhailovsky also designed the...

. The first bridge across the Volga in its lower reaches, it was opened by Konstantin Posyet

Konstantin Posyet

Constantine Possiet was a Russian statesman and admiral who served as Minister of Transport Communications between 1874 and 1888....

 in 1880 as part of the Samara-Zlatoust Railway

Kuybyshev Railway

The Kuybyshevskaya Railway is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways operating in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Ryazan Oblast, Penza, Tambov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Orenburg, and Chelyabinsk Oblasts of Russia. Its headquarters are in Samara...

. It had 13 spans and was 1436 metres long, making it the longest bridge in Europe. It was renamed Syzran Bridge following the Russian Revolution. The bridge sustained damage in the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

but was quickly restored. In 2004, the original spans of the old bridge were replaced, though its supports remain.