 The bridge was primarily funded by the Grand Duchy of Finland because of the strategic value it delivered by connecting the Finland railway and the Finnish State Railways with the Russian Railways system.In 1983, the reefer (refrigerated) ship "" hit the bridge while transporting a cargo of 500 tonnes of vendace fish.The ship sustained a hole in its hull and sank several hundred metres downstream in middle of the Neva river, halfway to the Alexander Nevsky Bridge.