Eresund Bridge: the most unusual bridge in Europe, which goes under the water

The strait of Öresund is very narrow, and for a long time a ferry service operated between Sweden's Malmö and Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The ties between the two countries are very close, so there was a brisk traffic between cities. Therefore, the question arose about the construction of a permanent bridge, which would connect the two countries. In addition, the Eressuni Bridge was to be part of a pan-European transport route that would connect Sweden to continental Europe.

When in 1995 the builders started the construction of a bridge between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, an unpleasant surprise awaited them. On the way to the bridge, more than 10 unexploded shells of the Second World War were found, which required additional time and material costs.

The architect of the unusual bridge was the architect George Rothne. The Eressun Bridge has a total length of 7,845 meters and consists of two sections: a cable-stayed bridge and an underwater tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 4050 meters, that is, more than half the length of the entire bridge. On the bridge there are 4 lanes for the traffic of road transport and 2 railroad tracks.

In the place where the bridge goes under the water and turns into a tunnel, an artificial island was built, which received a rather original name. The Danish island, located just to the north, is called Saltholme, which means "Sol-island". Therefore, the artificial island, which arose during the construction of the Eressun bridge, was decided to be called Peberholm, which translates as "Pepper Island". It is interesting that at the initial stage of construction it was planned to use the island of Saltholm as a reference point for the bridge. But this island has a unique ecology: it is home to thousands of swans, geese, ducks and eiders. Therefore, for the sake of preserving the valuable world of birds, it was decided not to involve Saltholm in large-scale construction, but to build an artificial island nearby.

As for the tunnel, its construction is largely due to the location of the capital's airport. The matter is that in immediate proximity from the bridge there is airport Kastrup which is not only the largest in Denmark, but also in all Scandinavia. In order to avoid jeopardizing the approaching airliners, and it was decided to load part of the bridge under the water. From such an engineering solution, the ships won, which could easily cross the strait of Öresund. The very bridge, the movement along which it was opened in 2000, became the most original such building in Europe.