Skeppsholmsbron

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Panorama looking east from Skeppsholmsbron in February 2006

Gilded crown on Skeppsholmsbron with Strandvägen in the background.

Skeppsholmsbron (Swedish: "The Skeppsholm Bridge") is in central Stockholm, Sweden, connecting Blasieholmen to Skeppsholmen.

The bridge, 165 metres long and 9.5 metres wide, consists of a 5.5 metre wide roadway flanked by 2 metre pathways, and is divided into 5 compartments.^[1] It was the first forging iron bridge to be constructed in Sweden, manufactured by Motala Verkstad in 1861.^[2]

The first bridge to connect Skeppsholmen to the rest of the city, was a wooden bridge on poles, simply called Holmbron ("The Islet Bridge") and provided with a drawbridge, constructed by the admiralty in 1638-1640 when the camp of the Swedish Navy was relocated from Blasieholmen to Skeppsholmen. In 1822 the bridge was severally damaged in a fire, and subsequently replaced by a temporary pontoon bridge. Funded directly and still owned by the state, the present steel bridge was finally inaugurated in 1861.^[1]

In 1935 the bridge together with other building and structures on Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen, were classified as historical landmarks, thus prohibiting replacing the bridge or altering its exterior, a decision nevertheless reassessed in the 1990s.^[3]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Dufwa, Arne (1985). "Broar och viadukter: Skeppsholmbron", Stockholms tekniska historia: Trafik, broar, tunnelbanor, gator. Uppsala: Stockholms gatukontor and Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning, 191-192. ISBN 91-37-08725-1.
^ (1992) "Skeppsholmen", Stockholms gatunamn, 2nd ed., Stockholm: Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning, 199. ISBN 91-7031-042-4.
^ Swedish language Wikipedia : Skeppsholmsbron, January 8, 2007