On the festive ceremony of dedication to the profession, the students of the PGUPS were welcomed by university officials, representatives of the construction and transportation industry, the Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation. The University’s Bridge Museum is a branch of the Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the profession of a bridge engineer means calculations, drawings, measuring equipment, technical solutions, all participants of the ceremony emphasized that bridge construction is not only an engineering task.

«I wish you to come here more often, because this is the place where you can get inspiration. I would be glad to see your creations in this museum someday,» said Oleg Valinsky, Rector of the PGUPS, to the freshmen.

Bridges Department is the first Russian specialized department for training of engineering and scientific personnel in the field of bridge construction. Professors, teachers and graduates of the department not only developed the basics of the theory of calculation, design and construction of bridge objects, laying the foundations of the domestic scientific bridge building school. They have built tens of thousands of bridges, including over the largest rivers in Russia. The achievements of the domestic bridge building school are known and recognized throughout the world.

Sergey Chizhov, the head of the Bridges Department said: «Today all hope is in you. You should be included in the educational and production process as early as possible, from the first courses. You should participate in the scientific activity, visit the Bridge Museum more often, to be interested in the achievements that are made in bridge construction».

Students received as a gift a textbook and for inspiration the book «The Cradle of Domestic Bridge Engineering», published by the Bridges Department of Bridges this year in honor of its 140th anniversary.

«Remember that bridges are engineering and beauty,» added Alexey Zhurbin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Stroyproekt Engineering Group.

There is a new exhibition in the Bridge Museum named «Commonwealth of Engineering and Beauty». The exposition is dedicated to engineer and architectural historian Andrei Lvovich Punin, whose life’s work dedicated to St. Petersburg bridges.

The celebration at the Bridge Museum is planned to become an annual tradition.