| Oresund Bridge Øresundsbroen, Öresundsbron |
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|---|---|
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| Carries | 4 lanes of European route E20 Double track Oresund Railway Line |
| Crosses | Oresund strait (The Sound) |
| Locale | Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden |
| Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
| Longest span | 490 metres (1,608 ft) |
| Total length | 7,845 metres (25,738 ft) |
| Width | 23.5 metres (77.1 ft) |
| Clearance below | 57 metres (187 ft) |
| AADT | ca. 17,000 road vehicles |
| Opening date | July 2, 2000 |
| Toll | 260DKK[1] /325SEK[2] /36EUR[3] |
| Coordinates | |
Properly spelled with diacritics, the Øresund or Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron, joint hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge across the Öresund strait. The bridge-tunnel is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Öresund Region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö. The international European route E20 runs across the bridge and through the tunnel via the two lane motorway, as does the Öresund Railway Line. The bridge is the longest border crossing bridge in the world,[4] but due to the Schengen Agreement, there are no passport or customs controls.
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Name
In Sweden and Denmark the bridge is most often referred to as Öresundsbron or Øresundsbroen, respectively. The bridge company itself insists on Øresundsbron, a compromise between the two languages which would symbolise a common cultural identity of the region, the people becoming 'Öresund citizens' once the bridge was established. Since it is actually a bridge and a tunnel, it is sometimes more technically correctly named the Öresund Link or Öresund Connection (Danish: Øresundsforbindelsen, Swedish: Öresundsförbindelsen). The Sound Bridge is occasionally heard, using the traditional English name of the strait.
History
Construction began in 1995. The last section was constructed on 14 August 1999. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden met midway to celebrate its completion. The official inauguration took place on 1 July 2000, with Queen Margrethe II, and King Carl XVI Gustaf, presiding. The bridge was opened for traffic later that day. Before the inauguration 79,871 runners competed in a half marathon (Broloppet, the Bridge Run) from Amager (in Denmark) to Skåne (in Sweden) on 12 June, 2000. The bridge was finished three months ahead of schedule.
Initially the usage of the bridge was not as high as expected, which was generally attributed to the expense of crossing. However, 2005 and 2006 saw a rapid increase in the volume of traffic on the bridge. This phenomenon may be due to Danes buying homes in Sweden and commuting to work in Denmark, because the price of housing in Malmö is lower than in Copenhagen. In 2008, a single car ride across the bridge cost DKK 260, SEK 325 or €36 (however, discounts of up to 75% are available for regular users). In 2007, almost 25 million people travelled over the bridge, 15.2 million in cars and buses and 9.6 million by train.
Features
The bridge has one of the longest cable-stayed main spans in the world at 490 metres (1,608 ft). The height of the highest pillar is 204 metres (669 ft). The total length of the bridge is 7,845 metres (25,738 ft), which is approximately half the distance between the Swedish and Danish landmasses, and its weight is 82,000 tonnes. On the bridge, the two rail-tracks are beneath the four road lanes. The bridge has a vertical clearance of 57 metres (187 ft), although most boat traffic across Oresund still passes over the Drogden strait (where the tunnel lies). The bridge was designed by Arup.
Peberholm, artificial island
The bridge ends in the middle of Øresund, on an artificially built island, called Peberholm. The island is more than 4 km long and a few hundred metres wide, belongs to Denmark and is now an unpopulated natural reserve.
The Drogden Tunnel
The connection between Peberholm and the nearest populated part of Denmark is through a tunnel, called the Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen). The tunnel is 4,050 metres (13,287 ft) long, a 3,510-metre (11,500 ft) long buried undersea tunnel plus two 270-metre (890 ft) gate-tunnels. The reason for building a tunnel instead of another section of bridge is that the Copenhagen Airport is nearby.
Rail transport
The public transport by rail is operated jointly by the Swedish Skåne commuter rail and the Danish Danske Statsbaner. A series of new dual-voltage trains were developed which link the Copenhagen area with Malmö and Southern Sweden as far as Gothenburg and Kalmar on selected departures. The bridge is also served by X2000 trains from Stockholm. Copenhagen Airport at Kastrup is served by its own train station close to the western bridgehead. Trains operate every 20 minutes over the crossing and once an hour during the night.
The rail section is double track standard gauge (1435 mm) and capable of high-speeds exceeding 200 km/h. There were challenges related to the difference in electrification and signalling between the Danish and Swedish railway networks. The solution chosen is to switch the electrical system, from Swedish 15 kV, 16,7 Hz to Danish 25 kV, 50 Hz AC right before the eastern bridgehead at Lernacken in Sweden. The line is signalled according to the standard Swedish system across the length of the bridge. On Peberholm, the line switches to Danish signalling which continues into the tunnel. Sweden runs railways with left-hand traffic and Denmark with right-hand traffic. The switch is made at the Malmö railway station, which is also a terminus. For the new Malmö City Tunnel connection a bridge will pass one track over to the other side.
Costs
The cost for the entire Øresund connection construction, including motorway and railway connections on land, was calculated at DKK 30.1 billion according to the 2000 year price index, with the cost of the bridge paid back by 2035. In 2006 Sweden began spending a further SEK 9.45 billion on the Malmö City Tunnel as a new rail connection to the bridge; it is due for completion in 2012.
Toll charge
In January 2008, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows (one way trip without discount) in Danish krone (DKK), Swedish krone (SEK) and Euro (EUR):
| Vehicle | DKK[1] | SEK[2] | EUR[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle | 145 | 180 | 20 |
| Standard car | 260 | 325 | 36 |
| Motorhome/car+caravan | 520 | 650 | 71 |
| Minibus (6-9 metres) | 520 | 650 | 71 |
| Bus (longer than 9 metres) | 1100 | 1365 | 151 |
| Lorry/truck (longer than 9 metres) | 775 | 960 | 106 |
References
- ^ a b Øresundsbron - kontantpriser (Danish)
- ^ a b Øresundsbron - kontantpriser (Swedish)
- ^ a b Øresund Bridge - cash prices (English)
- ^ http://osb.oeresundsbron.dk/documents/document.php?obj=1003
See also
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Øresund bridge |
- Oresund Bridge - Official website
- Øresund Bridge in the Structurae database
- Øresund Tunnel in the Structurae database
- Øresund Bridge from Skanska site
- German/English - information+online booking
- Traffic on the Øresundbridge in recent years - Comparison chart.
- Live traffic flow on the bridge (java).
- Øresund bridge project information from Road Traffic Technology
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