Øresund Bridge
The Oresund Bridge (joint Danish/Swedish hybrid name: Øresundsbron) (official name is the Øresundsförbindelsen, the Oresund Connection) 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 with the Swedish city of Malmö. The international European route E20 runs across the bridge.
The last section was put down on August 14, 1999. Danish Heir Apparent Frederik and his Swedish counterpart Crown Princess Victoria met midway to celebrate its completion. The official inauguration took place on July 1, 2000, with Danish Queen Margrethe II, and her Swedish counterpart King Carl XVI Gustaf, presiding. The bridge was opened for traffic later that day. Before the inauguration 79,871 runners competed in a half distance marathon (Broloppet, the Bridge Run) from Amager (in Denmark) to Skåne (in Sweden) on June 12, 2000. The public transport by rail is operated jointly by the Swedish SJ and the Danish DSB.
The bridge has one of the longest cable-stayed main spans in the world at 490 metres. The height of the highest pillar is 204 metres. The total length of the bridge is 7,845 metres, which is approximately half the distance between the Swedish and Danish landmasses, and its weight is 82 million kilograms. The rest of the distance is spanned by the artificial island Peberholm ("Pepper" islet) (4,055 m), (named as a counterpart to the already existing Saltholm islet) followed by a tunnel on the Danish side. The tunnel is 4,050 m long, a 3,510 m long buried undersea tunnel plus two 270 m gate tunnels. The two rail-tracks are beneath the four road lanes. The bridge has a vertical clearance of 57 metres, although most boat traffic across Oresund still passes over the Drogden strait (where the tunnel lies).
Instead of calling the bridge "Øresundsbroen" in Danish and "Öresundsbron" in Swedish, a compromise was made and the bridge was baptized "Øresundsbron" as the official name, although the Swedish spelling remains common in everyday usage in Sweden, and the Danish in Denmark.
As far as the number of cars using the bridge it has not been as well used as was hoped, largely due to the expense of crossing. As of 2006 a single trip across the bridge costs DKK 235, SEK 290 or € 32 (however, discounts of up to 50% are available for regular users). In 2004 almost 17 million people travelled over the bridge, 10.6 million in cars and 6.2 million with train.
The cost for the entire Øresunds connection construction was calculated to 30.1 billion DKK (€ 4.03 billion) according to the 2000 year priceindex. The cost of the bridge is expected to be paid back by 2035.
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The pillars seen from Malmö
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On the bridge -
In the tunnel
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Oresund Region
The designers of the bridge hoped that it would help create a unified "Oresund region" comprising Copenhagen and the Swedish communities on the eastern side of the strait. This greater metropolitan region is one of the largest in northern Europe, and the hope is to create a hub for economic activity.
One deterrent to closer economic integration is the lack of a single currency, as both Sweden and Denmark maintain their own currencies, the Danish krone and Swedish krona. Although both are accepted in some areas of the other country, exchange rates are not favourable, and many businesses, especially outside tourist zones, do not accept the other currency.
Another problem has been the lack of coordination of the rules for taxes and welfare etc. People commuting to work over the border risked paying double taxes, losing right to unemployment benefits because foreign employment did not contribute to entitlements in their home state, losing the right to kindergarten for their small children for the same reason etc. These problems have been mostly solved after years of political discussions between the countries.
Some argue that instead of creating increased tolerance between the inhabitants of both regions, the connection has instead furthered the distance between danes and swedes in the area, this because the differences in culture became more apparent with the increased integration.
External links
- Oresund Bridge - Official website
- Structurae: Øresund Bridge
- Øresund Bridge from Skanska site
- German/English - information+online booking