Øresund Bridge Link Features

Øresund Bridge Link Features

Bridge

At 7.85 km (4.88 mi), the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, the border between the two countries being 5.3 km (3.3 mi) from the Swedish end. The structure has a mass of 82,000 tonnes and supports two railway 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, but most ships' captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. The cable-stayed main span is 491 m (1,611 ft) long. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the specific rigidity necessary to carry heavy rail traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice. The bridge experiences occasional brief closures during very severe weather, such as the St. Jude storm of October 2013.

Due to high longitudinal and transverse loads acting over the bridge and to accommodate movements between the superstructure and substructure, it has bearings weighing up to 20 t (44,000 lb) each, capable of bearing vertical loads up to 96,000 kN (22,000,000 lbf) in a longitudinal direction and up to 40,000 kN (9,000,000 lbf) in transverse direction. The design, manufacturing and installation of the bearings were carried out by the Swiss civil engineering firm Mageba.

Vibration issues, caused by several cables in the bridge moving under certain wind and temperature conditions, were combatted with the installation of compression spring dampers installed in pairs at the centre of the cables. Two of these dampers were equipped with laser gauges for ongoing monitoring. Testing, development and installation of these spring dampers was carried out by specialists European Springs.

Peberholm

The bridge joins Drogden tunnel on the artificial island of Peberholm (Pepper Islet). The Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of Saltholm (Salt Islet) just to the north. Peberholm is a designated nature reserve built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long with an average width of 500 m (1,640 ft). It is 20 m (66 ft) high.

Drogden Tunnel

The connection between Peberholm and the artificial peninsula at Kastrup on Amager island, the nearest populated part of Denmark, is through the 4.05-kilometre (2.52 mi) long Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen). It comprises a 3.51-kilometre (2.18 mi) immersed tube plus 270-metre (886 ft) entry tunnels at each end. The tube tunnel is made from 20 prefabricated reinforced concrete segments – the largest 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 carry roads and a small fifth tube is provided for emergencies. The tubes are arranged side by side.

Øresund Bridge (Öresund Bridge) Overview

Øresund Bridge Carries:
Four lanes of European route E20
Double-track Øresund Line
Øresund Bridge Crosses: Øresund strait (the Sound)
Øresund Bridge Locale: Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmö, Sweden
Øresund Bridge Official Name: Øresundsbron (used by company), Øresundsbroen (Danish), Öresundsbron (Swedish)
Øresund Bridge Design: Cable-stayed bridge
Øresund Bridge Total Length: 7,845 metres (25,738 ft)
Øresund Bridge Width: 23.5 metres (77.1 ft)
Øresund Bridge Height: 204 metres (669 ft)
Øresund Bridge Longest Span: 490 metres (1,608 ft)
Øresund Bridge Clearance Below: 57 metres (187 ft)
Øresund Bridge Designer: Jørgen Nissen, Klaus Falbe Hansen, Niels Gimsing and Georg Rotne
Øresund Bridge Engineering Design By:
Ove Arup & Partners
Setec
ISC
Gimsing & Madsen
Øresund Bridge Constructed By: Hochtief, Skanska, Højgaard & Schultz and Monberg & Thorsen
Øresund Bridge Construction Start: 1995
Øresund Bridge Construction End: 1999
Øresund Bridge Construction Cost:
19.6 billion DKK
25.8 billion SEK
2.6 billion EUR
Øresund Bridge Opened: 1 July 2000
Øresund Bridge Daily Traffic: Increase c. 18,434 road vehicles (2022)
Øresund Bridge Toll:
Until 31 December 2023: DKK 440, SEK 650 or EUR 59
From 1 January 2024: DKK 455, SEK 673 or EUR 61
Øresund Bridge Coordinates: 55°34′31″N 12°49′37″E