Lev Kareli (1913, Tbilisi — - 1991, Kiev) - soviet engineer, specialist in bridge construction. He started his career in 1928. He was called up for active service in the Red Army in 1933, and served as a technical quartermaster. He studied at the V. Lenin Tbilisi Institute of railway transport (now the Georgian Technical University) from 1936 to 1941. During the Great Patriotic War, he went to the front as a volunteer, with the rank of quartermaster technician of the 2nd rank, he served in the military construction units. He worked after demobilization in Glavmoststroi of the city of Moscow, where he formed a Bridge Train. Under his leadership, a number of railway bridges were restored in the Crimea, from Dzhankoy to Sevastopol and Kerch. On the instructions of the government of the USSR, he took part in the development of virgin and fallow lands in Northern Kazakhstan. The Bridge Train #444, which was headed by Lev Kareli, was relocated to the city of Nikolaev in 1950. There unique bridges were built under his leadership: 1) Strategic Trikhat railway bridge over the Southern Bug River (construction started in 1950, commissioned in 1954); 2) Varvarovsky Bridge-a drawbridge across the southern bug river in Nikolaev (construction started in 1957, commissioned in 1964). As of 1964 it was the largest road bridge in the USSR; 3) Ingulsky Bridge — a drawbridge across the Ingul River in the city of Nikolaev (construction started in 1974, commissioned in 1980). Until 1996, the Ingul Bridge was the one with the largest drawbridge in Europe, now it is less than 6 meters behind the bridge in the city of Rotterdam. In total, Lev Kareli built about forty bridges of various classes. During the construction of the Varvarovsky Bridge, for which Kareli received the Lenin Prize, many radically new technologies were put into practice — in accordance with which the largest bridge over the Volga in Europe at that time was later built in the city of Saratov (Saratovsky Bridge), as well as the Metro Bridge in Kiev. With his direct participation, bridge builders abandoned the deadly method of building bridge supports (using caisson chambers) and moved to a more advanced and safe method for people — using a directed explosion (camouflage method). Construction of the Varvarovsky Bridge across the Southern Bug River in the city of Nikolaev was included in the list of objects of demonstration construction of the Ministry of transport of the USSR. Lev Kareli died in 1991 and was buried in Kiev. Awards and recognition: Lenin prize — for participation in the development and implementation of advanced methods for the construction of deep fill foundations (1962); Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class (1985); Honored Builder of the Ukrainian SSR; Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals of the USSR. Memory: The honourable citizen of Nikolaev. The former Vorovsky Street in Nikolaev was renamed in honor of Lev Kareli in 2016.