Oresund Bridge
As Europe's fifth longest bridge, it links not only two Scandinavian nations but also links two of their biggest cities, adding to the structure's supreme significance.
In this post, you’ll learn about the most fascinating facts on the Oresund Bridge and marvel at this engineering feat.
1. It extends across a strait between Sweden & Denmark
Øresund Bridge is a mega structure spanning the Øresund Strait, lying on the border belonging to Sweden and Denmark. This strait, frequently called in English “The Sound,” boasts a width varying between 2.5 and 17 miles.
The bridge was built in the most ideal site, for it makes the connection between Copenhagen, Denmark's biggest city and the capital, and Malmö, Sweden's third-biggest city.
The bridge comprises a mix of both railway bridge and a road and allows the European route E20 to cross the strait. The railway road, referred to as the Øresund Line, provides a stable connection between the two major cities, Copenhagen and Malmö, in only 40 minutes.
2. A tunnel emerges near Denmark when crossing
Another fascinating fact on the Øresund Bridge is that the whole crossing is not just a bridge. The area close to Denmark sees its end through the Drogden Tunnel.
The artificial island which was built in the center of the strait named Peberholm, covers a total area of 0.50 square miles and switches from the bridge to the tunnel. The Drogden Tunnel is 2.52 miles long and was built to prevent interference with air traffic coming from Copenhagen Airport.
3. Many reasons postponed the construction till the 1990s
It was the intention of both Swedish and Danish local governments to construct either a tunnel or bridge across the Øresund strait for the whole 20th century. It was initially proposed to erect a sort of tunnel to handle railway traffic back in 1910.
A network of engineering companies was created and it made the proposal to construct a bridge over the strait in the year 1936; however, World War ll began and the plans had to be shelved. Though several proposals were put forward during the decades following the war, none led to an acceptable plan.
An agreement was eventually reached to erect a connection, signed in 1973, and the engineering firms were thoroughly investigating all possible options at the time, as well as considering the shortest spot of the strait going between Helsingør–Helsingborg.
The last delay came about on account of the Danish Government giving priority to the Great Belt Fixed Link's construction, a project connecting the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand over the Great Belt Strait.
Since the Great Belt crossing saw completion in 1998, Oresund Bridge was completed by 1999 and opened for the public in 2000.
4. The bridge sports astonishing dimensions
The fact this bridge/tunnel project lasted only 4 years is an engineering miracle, which becomes particularly obvious when looking closely at the structure's stunning stats:
- Length: 7,845 meters or 25,738 feet
- Longest span: 490 meters or 1,608 feet
- Width: 23.5 meters or 77.1 feet
- Maximum height: 204 meters or 669 feet
- Deck height: 57 meters or 187 feet
The bridge combines cable and girder elements. The main reason this kind of design was picked was to permit trains to cross the bridge which carries a weighty load across the superstructure.
5. The bridge's construction was expensive
The bridge was not cheap, costing a grand total of 2.6 billion euros, or 19.6 billion DKK and 25.8 billion SEK.
This just makes the project more exceptional as Swedish and Danish taxpayers didn't pay directly, except for the land that was used to erect the structure's approaches. Tolls to be collected from all the drivers wanting to cross it will take about 30 years to pay. But each ticket costs 55 euros; pricely.
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