Øresund Bridge

Øresund Bridge
Öresund Bridge
Official name Øresundsbroen, Öresundsbron
Carries Four lanes of European route E20
Double track Oresund Railway Line
Crosses Oresund strait (The Sound)
Locale Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden
Designer Georg Rotne
Design Cable-stayed bridge
Total length 7,845 metres (25,738 ft)
Width 23.5 metres (77.1 ft)
Longest span 490 metres (1,608 ft)
Clearance below 57 metres (187 ft)
Opened July 2, 2000
Toll 275DKK[1] /395SEK[2] /38EUR[3]
Daily traffic ca. 17,000 road vehicles

The Øresund or Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron, joint hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined twin-track railroad and four-lane highway bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest highway and railroad bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen and the major Swedish city of Malmö. Furthermore, the Øresund Bridge connects the highway network of Scandinavia with those of Central and Western Europe

The international European route E20 crosses this bridge-tunnel via the roadway, and the Öresund Railway Line uses the railroads. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link – which connects Zealand to Funen and whence to the Jutland Peninsula – and the Øresund Bridge have connected Western and Central Europe to Scandinavia. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.

The purpose for the additional expenditure and complexity of digging a tunnel for part of the Øresund Bridge – rather than simply another section of bridge – was to avoid interfering with airliners from the nearby Copenhagen International Airport, and also to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad (including during ice floes. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but according to the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are customs checks at the entrance toll booths for entering Sweden, but not for travelers entering Denmark.

Contents

Name

In Sweden and Denmark the bridge is most often referred to as Öresundsbron and Øresundsbroen, respectively. The bridge company itself insists on Øresundsbron, a compromise between the two languages. This symbolises a common cultural identity for the region, with some of the people considering themselves "Öresund citizens" once the Øresund Bridge was completed. Since the crossing is actually composed of a bridge, one artificial island, and a tunnel, it is sometimes called the "Öresund Link", the "Öresund Connection" (Danish: Øresundsforbindelsen, Swedish: Öresundsförbindelsen), or worse language than these.

The phrase The Sound Bridge is occasionally heard, using the historic English name for the strait.

History

The construction of the Øresund Bridge began in 1995. It was finished about August 14, 1999. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden met midway across the bridge-tunnel to celebrate its completion. Its official dedication took place on July 1, 2000, with Queen Margrethe II, and King Carl XVI Gustaf as the host and hostess of the cememony. The bridge-tunnel was opened for public traffic later that day. On 12 June 2000, two weeks before the dedication, 79,871 runners competed in a half marathon (Broloppet, the Bridge Run) from Amager, Denmark, to Skåne, Sweden.

In spite of two schedule setbacks – the discovery of 16 unexploded World War II bombs lying on the seafloor and an inadvertently-skewed tunnel segment – the bridge-tunnel was finished three months ahead of schedule.

Initially, the crossing was not used as much as expected, probably because of its high cost in tolls. Since 2005, there has been a rapid increase in traffic. This may have been caused by Danes buying homes in Sweden – to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö – and commuting to work in Denmark. In 2008, to cross by car cost DKK 260, SEK 325, or € 36.30, although discounts up to 75% are available for regular users. In 2007, almost 25 million people traveled over the Øresund Bridge: 15.2 million by car and bus, and 9.6 million by train.

Link features

The bridge

Aerial Photo of Oresund Bridge.

At 7,845 m (25,738 ft), the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, the border between the two countries being located 5.3 km (3.3 mi) from the Swedish end. The structure has a mass of 82,000 tonnes and supports two railroad tracks beneath four road lanes in a horizontal girder extending along the entire length of the bridge. On both approaches to the three cable-stayed bridge sections, the girder is supported every 140 m (459 ft) by concrete piers. The two pairs of free-standing cable supporting towers are 204 m (669 ft) high allowing shipping 57 m (187 ft) of head room under the main span. Even so, most ship's captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. Its 491 m (1,611 ft) cable-stayed main span is the longest of this type in the world. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the rigidity necessary to carry heavy railroad traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice..

Peberholm

The bridge joins the Drogden tunnel on the artificial island christened Peberholm (Pepper Islet). With characteristic good humour, the Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of Saltholm (salt islet) just to the north. They also made Peberholm a designated nature reserve. Built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, Peberholm is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long, with an average width of 500 m (1,640 ft).

Drogden Tunnel

Cross-section of the Oresund Tunnel

The connection between the artificial island of Peberholm and the artificial peninsula at Kastrup on Amager island – the nearest populated part of Denmark – is through the Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen). The 4,050 m (13,287 ft) long tunnel comprises a 3,510 m (11,516 ft) undersea tube tunnel plus 270 m (886 ft) entry tunnels at each end. The tube tunnel is made from 20 prefabricated reinforced concrete segments – the most massive in the world at 55,000 tonnes each – interconnected in a trench dug in the seabed. Two tubes in the tunnel carry railway tracks; two more carry roads while a small fifth tube is provided for emergencies. The tubes are arranged side by side.

Rail transport

Satellite image of the Oresund Bridge
View from Malmö

The public transport by rail product is operated jointly by the Swedish SJ and Danish via DSBFirst on a commission by Skånetrafiken and other county traffic companies (that also sells tickets) and the Danish transport agency. 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. SJ operate the X2000 and InterCity trains over the bridge with connections to Gothenburg and Stockholm. DSB operates trains to Ystad that connects directly to a ferry to Bornholm. 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 in both directions. An additional couple of Øresundstrains are operated at rush hour and 1-2 per hour and direction SJ trains and DSB trains every other hour. Freight trains also use the crossing.

The rail connection has become popular and is now experiencing congestion. The congestion is mainly on land and not really on the bridge. The railway stations on both sides of the bridge, especially the Malmö Central Station, are the main sources of congestion. People have to stand onboard in rush hour since it is hard to run more trains. The Malmö City Tunnel and its stations will relieve the congestion on the Swedish side.

The rail section is double track standard gauge (1435 mm; 4 ft 81⁄2 in) and capable of high-speeds up to 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph), but lower in Denmark, especially in the tunnel section. 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 Central Station, which is also a terminus. For the new Malmö City Tunnel connection a flyover will pass one track over to the other side.

Costs

On the bridge
In the tunnel

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 2010.

The connection will be entirely user financed. The owner company is owned half by the Danish government and half by the Swedish government. This owner company has taken loans guaranteed by the governments to finance the connection, and the user fees are the only incomes for the company. After the increase in traffic these fees are enough to pay the interest and begin paying back the loans, which is expected to take about 30 years.

The tax payers have not paid for the bridge and the tunnel. However, tax money has been used for the land connections. Especially on the Danish side the land connection has domestic benefit, mainly connecting the airport to the railway network. The Malmö City Tunnel has the benefit of connecting the southern part of the inner city to the rail network and allowing many more trains to and from Malmö.

Toll charge

In April 2009, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows (one way trip without discount) in Danish kroner (DKK), Swedish kronor (SEK) and euro (EUR):

Vehicle DKK[1] SEK[2] EUR[3]
Motorcycle 150 215 21
Standard car 275 380 39
Motorhome/car+caravan 550 790 75
Minibus (6-9 metres) 550 790 75
Bus (longer than 9 metres) 1145 1675 157
Lorry/truck (9-20 metres) 795 1170 109
Lorry/truck (over 20 metres) 1190 1755 163
Train ticket[4] 78 98 9

There has been criticism of the tolls which are much higher than many consider reasonable for a bridge. However they are comparable with the ferry charges that were levied before the bridge was built and for the ferries still running between Helsingborg-Helsingør.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 [1] - kontantpriser (Danish)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 [2] - kontantpriser (Swedish)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 [3] - cash prices (English)
  4. ↑ "Startsida - Öresundståg". Oresundstag.se. http://www.oresundstag.se. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 

External links