Eresun bridge-tunnel - a technological miracle of our time

In the age of high technology, tourists have the opportunity to admire not only the ancient monuments of architecture, but also masterpieces of modern engineering. Tokyo and Dubai, other similar megacities have also become pilgrimage centers for travelers. But the "old lady" Europe has something to surprise the tourist in terms of ultramodern technologies. One of the achievements of engineering thought at the very end of the last millennium was the Øresund bridge-tunnel, connecting the two countries - Denmark and Sweden. We will describe it in our article.

Building

Earlier, to travel from one country to another, it was necessary to use the ferry. This led to the continuation of the ships along the Øresund strait, preventing the advance of oceanic vessels towards the Baltic Sea. Not to mention the queues of cars piling up in anticipation of the ferry. Therefore, in the early nineties of the last century, it was decided to build a bridge between Denmark and Sweden. They started to create it in 1995. The construction did not proceed smoothly.

First, the workers found on the seabed as many as eighteen torpedoes that did not burst during the Second World War. Then it was found out that because of a small engineering error, the skew of one of the spans of the bridge went. But nevertheless, the construction was completed even three months ahead of the planned time. The bridge was commissioned in August 1999, when the Danish Prince Friedrich and the Princess of Sweden Victoria met in the middle of this construction. But the ruling monarchs of the two countries - Margrethe II and Carl Gustav Sixteenth - cut the symbolic red ribbon almost a year later. Thus, officially the "Denmark-Sweden" bridge was opened on July 1, 2000.

What makes a unique design

This highway connects the capital of Copenhagen with the city of Malmö, located in the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula. If you look at the construction from a great height, for example, from an airplane, it seems that the bridge between Denmark and Sweden has remained unfinished. It ends near the artificial island of Peberholm. But this is a deceptive impression. Just on this section the bridge goes under the water and turns into a tunnel. The fact is that the coast of Denmark is inhabited by rare mollusks. In particular, to preserve the endangered species, and it was decided to lower the bridge to the depths of the sea. So, the whole construction consists of three parts. The first is the above-water part, looking like a familiar bridge. Next - an artificial "Island-Pepper", named because of its shape, and an underground tunnel, located under the bottom of the strait of Öresund.

Parameters of the above-water part of the structure

Let us now consider in more detail the dimensions of this newly appeared miracle of the world. The length of the above-ground structure is almost eight kilometers. To be more precise, 7845 meters. Further, it rests on an artificial island, where the helicopter landing pad is located for emergency situations. But the length of only the above-water part of eight kilometers makes the Øresund Bridge, a photo of which is decorated with guides to Sweden and Denmark, one of the tourist attractions.

Supports rise to a height unattainable even for the most severe northern storms. To the oceanic vessels could safely pass under the bridge, the main span has a parameter of fifty-seven meters. This is approximately the height of a twenty-story building. The bridge is two-storeyed. At the bottom there is a two-track railway. And at the top there are four lanes for cars. The height of the road surface is two hundred and four meters. The feeling of those traveling by car is such that they fly on an airplane over the sea surface.

Eresun bridge-tunnel. Underwater part

When the bridge reaches the bulk of the island of Peberholm, the pillars are reduced. Further, both the railway rails and the car lanes diverge along their tunnels. They are five pipes: two - for trains going in different directions, two more - for cars, and one - for emergency situations. Together they form the "Drogden" tunnel. This is a very important part of the design. Its length is four kilometers, almost half as much as the Øresund Bridge. But the realization that you are going to a depth of nine meters, and even under the sea floor, worried many motorists. Especially when you look at the navigator. It shows that you are moving on the water.

The fare

The Øresund Bridge-Tunnel is a grandiose project of the end of the last century. To build it, Denmark laid out thirty billion crowns. Therefore, travel by the bridge is quite expensive. You need to pay at the terminals with Swedish, Danish kroner or euro. For each type of car there is a special rate. Passage of a car on the Öresund Bridge Tunnel will cost an average of forty euros. Every day, the border between Denmark and Sweden crosses sixty thousand cars through this architectural miracle. In addition, every quarter of an hour a train passes through the bridge. The governments of both countries encourage their citizens to make such trips. Many Copenhagen residents buy housing in provincial Malmö and daily go to work in the capital of Denmark on the bridge. For them there are discounts (75-80%). But even with such busyness, the Øresund Bridge promises to pay off only by 2035.

Tourist attraction

Perhaps the Swedes and the Danes, who cross the symbolic border between their states on a daily basis, no longer see any exoticism in the design. For them, this is just a convenient way for 25 minutes by high-speed train and for 40 - by car from Copenhagen to Malmö or in the opposite direction. But for tourists from other countries, the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel is a real attraction. Driving along the above-water part, you can admire the seascapes. And diving into the tunnel, it is impossible not to appreciate the greatness of human genius.