The depth of the Neva in St. Petersburg. Description of the river, interesting facts

The Neva is one of the most majestic, large and wide rivers in Russia. Its history stretches from ancient times. What is the depth of the river? The Neva in St. Petersburg has different depths in separate areas. Often the pond changes its width. Therefore, the Neva is the most unstable river in the world. Sometimes, due to such fluctuations, it is very difficult to resist the head wind.

History of the river

The depth of the Neva is constantly changing in the course of the history of the reservoir. For example, the delta of the river in the 19th century had 48 channels and canals, forming 101 islands. In the 20th century, they contracted, as well as water bodies. As a result, there were only 41 islands. In ancient times on the place of the Neva was located a freshwater and enclosed Antsilov pool. And next to it flowed the Tosna River.

The depth of the Neva began to form together with the appearance of the reservoir. It all started with a breakthrough watershed. The Ladoga waters reached the Gulf of Finland. And then, about 4,500 years ago, the Neva was formed. The reservoir is considered to be young. The final outline of the river took only 2500 years ago.

On it the way of the Vikings to the Greeks passed. The Neva was mentioned in the Life of Alexander Nevsky. Coastal land of the river often changed owners. In the 18th century the reservoir became part of the Russian Empire. In 1912, the Neva (Peter) depth, which now reaches up to 24 meters, was very small. And only after 50 years began to increase in its magnitude. Especially at the source of the reservoir.

Description of the pond

The length of the Neva is 74 kilometers, of which 32 km are on the territory of St. Petersburg. The average width of the reservoir is from 200 to 400 m. And the most significant part reaches 1250 meters. This section of the river is located at the Nevsky Gate, in the delta. The narrowest width is 210 m., In the source of the Ivanovo rapids and Cape Svyatka.

What depth of the Neva? It is different, depending on the site where the part of the reservoir is located. For example, at the Ivanovo rapids the depth of the river reaches four meters, and at Liteiny Bridge it is up to twenty-four meters. The banks of the Neva go deep down at once, but they are not very steep. Due to this, watercraft can approach close to the shore and moor.

The area of the Neva is 281 thousand square kilometers. There are 50,000 lakes on the territory of the pond and 60,000 rivers flowing with a total length of 160,000 kilometers. The Neva originates from the Shlisselburg Bay. Then the river, reaching the Gulf of Finland, forms a large delta. In the mouth of the Neva is St. Petersburg. Thanks to the river, the city, which has many canals, was called the "Northern Venice".

Geographical characteristics

Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga. The widest delta is in the seaport area. This value remains so up to the terrain where the Ivanovo rapids run out. And also where p. Tesna flows into the Neva. The narrowest place is at the beginning of the Ivanovo rapids. There the width of the river is only 210 meters. The second bottleneck is between the Dvortsovy Bridge and Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge. There the width of the Neva is only 340 meters. If you take in general values, then the average is from 400 to 600 meters.

The depth of the Neva in St. Petersburg varies depending on the location. On average, this value ranges from 8-11 meters. The deepest place is 24 meters. And the smallest figure is four meters. The height of the banks is from 5 to 6 meters, and in the mouth - from 2 to 3 meters. The gently sloping banks, which flow smoothly under the water, practically do not exist on the Neva River.

Pools and tributaries

The area of the river basin is about 5,000 square kilometers. But this is without the inclusion of the Ladoga and Onega reservoirs in the amount. If we take the value together with them, then the area of the Neva will be 281,000 square kilometers. The main right tributaries are the Black River and Okhta. From the left side:

• Slav;
• Murzinka;
• Tosna;
• Izhora;
• Mga.

Bridges

On the Neva almost all bridges are drawbridges. This action is carried out at night, for the passage of water vessels. There are thirteen drawbridges on the Neva, ten of which are raised daily. This is done on a specific schedule. In 2004, the first and only unbranched bridge was opened. He was called Bolshoy Obukhovsky. Its length is 2824 meters.

The Modern Neva

In 2004, a new bridge was opened on the Ring Road across the Neva River. In 2007, the twin of the facility was put into operation. And in January of the same year a movement was opened along it. The greatest depth of the Neva is twenty-four meters. And in no place in the pond there are big shoals. There are passenger water transportations on the Neva. Most often on a reservoir tourist boats cruise.

To date, one of the main purposes of the river is the water supply of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. About 95 percent of the water is spent for these needs from the Neva. It is carefully processed at five waterworks of the city.

Fishing on the Neva

Fishing is developed on the Neva. Smelt from the Gulf of Finland. And in the upper part of the Neva, salmon are caught perfectly. Fishermen have chosen the Kutuzov Embankment. In this place you can catch arctic char, eel, trout and asp. On the Embankment named after Lieutenant Schmidt is caught:

• sterlet;
• Brook trout ;
• grayling;
• salmon;
• pike;
• bream;
• burbot;
• Catfish.

Also popular places for fishermen are the terrain near the Peter and Paul Fortress and Pirogovskaya embankment. Sometimes very large fish are caught. Pikes fall to 15 kilograms, and pike-perches to 8 kilograms.

Interesting Facts

Since 1895-1910 years. The ice on the Neva served as a winter crossing, which connected Vasilievsky Island with other areas of St. Petersburg. And in 1936 a ferro-concrete bridge was thrown across the river. It was named Volodarsky.

For the Neva are not only characteristic of the White Nights, but also floods. During the construction of St. Petersburg flooding the city was considered retribution and divine punishment. And in the annals it is said that the water rose to 25 feet. For a long time it was not possible to establish the cause of such phenomena. The construction of canals began, so that water could flow into the channels.

As a result, the depth of the Neva was constantly changing. The water level decreased for a while. The dug ground was used for the foundations of buildings. In 1777, the Neva overflowed very much, and after that the construction of the ducts began. But these channels at the water level were not affected much and became mainly transport arteries.

Only in the late 19th century, scientists were able to establish the cause of the floods. It turned out that the high waves of the Baltic Sea fall into the Neva and raise its level by two and a half meters. And with the wind and at all to four meters. Therefore, the depth of the Neva depends on many factors. To protect St. Petersburg from catastrophic floods, in 1979 the construction of a dam began.

It passed through Kronstadt, and connected the shores of the Gulf of Finland. But the construction was soon frozen for a while. Not enough money. And the dam began to be completed only in 2006. It went into operation in 2011. Now, even when the Neva rises to a critical four meters, the city of St. Petersburg remains under protection. The dam is designed to raise the water level to five meters.