Oresund Bridge

Oresund Bridge
Øresundsbroen, Öresundsbron
Oresund BridgeØresundsbroen, Öresundsbron
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]

The Oresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron, joint hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge across the Oresund strait. The bridge-tunnel is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Oresund 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 Oresund 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.

Contents

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 'Oresund citizens' once the bridge was established. Since it is actually a bridge and a tunnel, it is sometimes more technically correctly named the Oresund Link or Oresund 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. 2005 and 2006, however, have seen 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. As of 2008, a single car ride across the bridge costs 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

Aerial Photo of Oresund Bridge.

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

Main article: Peberholm

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

Satellite image of the Oresund Bridge.

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 to build a tunnel here instead of another bridge is that it is too near the Copenhagen Airport.

Rail transport

View from Malmö
Main article: Oresund Railway

The public transport by rail is operated jointly by the Swedish SJ and 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. Across the bridge trains run every 20 minutes, 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 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 with the standard Swedish system all across 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 a terminus station. For the new Malmö City Tunnel connection a bridge will pass one track over to the other side.

Costs

On the bridge

The cost for the entire Øresund connection construction, including motorway and railway connections on land, was calculated to DKK 30.1 billion according to the 2000 year price index. The cost of the bridge is expected to be paid back by 2035. Sweden has started spending SEK 9.45 billion more, on the Malmö City Tunnel (2006–2012) as a new rail connection to the bridge.

Toll charge

Cross-section of the tunnel

As of January 2008, the toll for driving the fixed link is 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 meters) 520 650 71
Bus (longer than 9 meters) 1100 1365 151
Lorry/truck (longer than 9 meters) 775 960 106

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Øresundsbron - kontantpriser (Danish)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Øresundsbron - kontantpriser (Swedish)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Øresund Bridge - cash prices (English)
  4. ↑ http://osb.oeresundsbron.dk/documents/document.php?obj=1003

See also

External links