The Fascinating Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo
Oresund Bridge is one of the more fascinating examples of architectural brilliance. Also known as Öresundsbron, the Oresund Bridge connects the Danish capital Copenhagen and the major city of Malmo in Sweden. The bridge is 7,845 meters or 25,738 ft long and 23.5 meters or 77.1 ft wide. It was designed by a Danish firm, COWI. The Oresund Bridge is unique because it consists of a bridge, an artificial island and a tunnel. The name is basically a hybrid because the bridge is known as Øresundsbroen in Danish and Öresundsbron in Swedish. So Ø̈resundsbron is chosen as the commonly accepted name. The bridge spans the Öresund strait and hence the name. The bridge runs from the Swedish coast to Peberholm, which is the artificial island and then it is an underwater tunnel which is known as the Drogden Tunnel from where the route connects to Amager, a Danish island. Often, the tunnel is factored in while talking about the Oresund Bridge.
Denmark has been known for some impressive architecture. Pick a VIP Hotels Copenhagen and you would witness the Danish penchant for uniqueness. The Oresund Bridge is not exactly a tourist site but it has its share of achievements. It is the longest road and rail bridge in all of Europe. It is an extremely important route which carries four lanes of European Route E20. The two major cities the bridge connects make it important for logistics, traffic, trade and thus the local economies. The bridge also carries a data cable which facilitates internet data transmission of and for Finland. For the curious, it may seem odd that the bridge has a tunnel, an artificial island and it seems of a bit too much experimentation and wastage of public funds on the complex architecture. But there are reasons why the entire development was planned and worked out in this manner. The bridge gets connected to a tunnel and is not a bridge in its entirety because that would have affected air traffic around the Copenhagen airport, the channel for boats and ships would have been affected and ice floes blocking the strait would have become a recurring menace.
In other words, the architecture and the entire development had been worked out this way to overcome the existing challenges and to avert foreseeable problems, thus reiterating how fascinating the bridge truly is. The Oresund Bridge has a toll of 46 EUR.