Zavodskiy Prud, reservoir in Russia

Zavodskiy Prud is a large water reservoir along the Ural River in Magnitogorsk that covers an area of about 33 square kilometers with an average depth just over 5 meters. Multiple dams and bridges control the water and connect different parts of the city, with fish such as pike, perch, and carp inhabiting its waters.

The reservoir was created in 1931 to supply water for the local steel plant and became fully filled by 1937 to serve industrial needs. Over the following decades, several bridges were built across it, including the Central Bridge in 1951, the South Bridge in the 1950s, and the Kazakh Crosswalk in the 1980s to connect expanding sections of the city.

The reservoir's name, Zavodskiy Prud (Factory Pond), comes from the Magnitogorsk metallurgical combine it was built to supply in 1931. Today it is used for recreation and fishing; its fish include perch, rudd, pikeperch, carp, pike and crucian carp. Since the 2020s it has been regularly stocked with grass carp and silver carp to improve the water's ecology.

The reservoir stretches 18 km along the Ural River, with an average width of 1.1 km and a maximum of 2.2 km; shallows under 2 m cover 6 km². Three crossings span it: the Central transition (1951), the Southern bridge with only three supports, and the Cossack crossing near the flooded first dam. Banks are flat, covered with shrubs and grass.

The first dam, built in 1931, was then the longest in the world, made of 102 arches, and held a reservoir of 13.5 km². When the second earthen dam downstream was completed and filled from 18 April 1937, the old dam was deliberately flooded; the Kazachya Pereprava bridge now stands near its submerged site.