In 1862, students protesting for a liberal, progressive, and constitutional government were being beaten by the police on the Neva bridge.

The design was subject to strict controls so as to prevent the bridge from obstructing the view from Palace Embankment towards Kunstkammer, Imperial Academy of Arts, and other structures on Vasilievsky Island.

During the October Revolution the bridge was singled out as one of the principal sites to be occupied by the insurrectionists in order to control the city, it was taken without any fighting.

The engine which opens up 700 ton of each bridge flights consists of motors, huge gears (some of which are still the original ones) and thousand-ton counterweights.

In October 2002 one of the gear teeth broke off: consequently the drawing was halted in the middle, and ship passage was delayed.