ORESUND BRIDGE

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, as does the Oresund Railway Line.

Contents

Name

History

Features

Rail transport

Costs

Toll charge

References

See also

External links

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 correct 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 August 14, 1999. Danish Heir Apparent Crown Prince 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.
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 their work in Denmark, because the price of housing in Malmö is lower than in Copenhagen.
As of 2006 a single car ride across the bridge costs DKK 235, SEK 290 or € 32 ($43.52 or £21.84) (however, discounts of up to 75% are available for regular users), and a train ride SEK 90. In 2004 almost 17 million people travelled over the bridge, 10.6 million in cars and 6.2 million by train.

Features

The bridge has one of the longest cable-stayed main spans in the world at . The height of the highest pillar is . The total length of the bridge is , which is approximately half the distance between the Swedish and Danish landmasses, and its weight is 82,000 metric tons. 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 long, a 3,510 metre long buried undersea tunnel plus two 270-metre gate-tunnels. On the bridge, the two rail-tracks are ''beneath'' the four road lanes. The bridge has a vertical clearance of , although most boat traffic across Oresund still passes over the Drogden strait (where the tunnel lies). The bridge was designed by Arup.

Rail transport

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 between the Danish and Swedish railway networks, but this was solved by the entire railway being electrified at the Danish and there being a change of signal system at Peberholm. 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 City tunnel connection a bridge will pass one track to the other side.

Costs

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

As of August 2007, the toll for driving the fixed link is as follows (one way trip):

Vehicle	Danish currency	Swedish currency
Motorcycle	135 DKK	165 SEK
Standard car	245 DKK	300 SEK
Motorhome/Car+Caravan	490 DKK	600 SEK
Minibus (6-9 meters)	585 DKK	725 SEK
Bus (longer than 9 meters)	1065 DKK	1315 SEK
Lorry (9-12 meters)	820 DKK	1015 SEK
Lorry (12- meters)	970 DKK	1200 SEK

References

1. Øresundsbron - kontantpriser
2. Øresundsbron - kontantpriser
3. Øresund Bridge - cash prices

See also

★ Oresund Region

★ Great Belt Fixed Link

★ Fehmarn Belt bridge

External links

★ Oresund Bridge - Official website

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★ 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).