The Øresund strait separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) at the narrowest point between Kronborg Castle at Helsingør in Denmark – but this couldn’t stop these Scandinavic countries. They designed a magnificent bridge that turns into a tunnel… let me explain.
The Øresund was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI and the main architect was George K.S. Rotne, being operated jointly by both states. The Øresund Bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island of Peberholm, which lies in the middle of the strait. The crossing of the strait is completed by a 4 km (2.5-mile) underwater tunnel, called the Drogden Tunnel, from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The man-made island of Peberholm is quite spectacular in itself. It was constructed from material dredged from the seabed. The flora and fauna has been allowed to develop freely, and has now become a big point of interest for biologists. The Lund’s Botanical Association has identified more than 500 different species of plants, as well as a popular breeding ground for birds and a habitat for the rare green toad.
The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, connection two of the most important centers in the region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen, and Sweden’s city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe.
The cable-stayed bridge has two 204 meter high pylons (almost 700 feet), supporting the bridge across the channel. Thanks to the bridge, an area that now houses 3.7 million people was allowed to develop economically and thrive.
A video of the trip would be very cool (hint, hint)!
Thanks for sharing this Andrei. Chances are slim I will ever be able to see the bridge-tunnel in person, so this made it very worthwhile reading!
This seems interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_WPlfEn8s
Nice!
Thank you, sir!
Smart, that they chose to cover tunnel ceiling with black, unlike Lincoln and Holland tunnel lanes that Port Authority closes every night to wipe clean.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is 23 miles long with 2 man made islands and two mile long tunnels. It was opened in 1964 and has operated flawlessly. Lots of big ship traffic over and under this system as it is near the Navy’s Norfolk base.
What makes you think they close the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels at night? I’ve lived here my whole life and never seen a tunnel closed for cleaning.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/night-shift-lincoln-tunnel/?_r=0
Buddy! I didn’t say, (whole) tunnels, I said lanes.
I love to drive on the street of NYC in the nights (after 1 or 2 am). Just for fun, have lamb rice at Halal Brothers, get a bite at Macdougal street, drop a friend at Columbia International House, etc.
And I return back to the other bank of Holland early morning.
They always close alternate lanes for cleaning in the night. A truck with rolling brushes moves and cleans the ceiling and walls.
(Oops, my bad! Exactly, at this point I found the same link as yours. I was too lazy to click your link, but arrogant enough to search for a link to prove my point).
But, yeah, to let the same kinda truck finish its work, one lane is blocked. And cones are put.
Again, I didn’t say tunnels are closed.
In my previous comment, I said “Lincoln and Holland tunnel lanes”.
What do you know. Now I want to make a trip out at night some time.