 It was the first of the grand bridges of the Great Siberian Way, connecting the two largest segments of the Trans-Siberian Railway ― the West Siberian and Middle Siberian railways.The bridge was for the first time equipped with spans which were topped by metal structures of the cantilever-beam type, while the bridge itself was the largest structure of the West Siberian Railway.The bridge commission headed by Belelyubsky tested the bridge on 28 March (9 April) 1897 by placing 4 locomotives, each of 51.5 tons, simultaneously on the structure.