Oresund Bridge (Øresundsbron) – Connecting Denmark and Sweden

With the Copenhagen summit preparations going on in full swing and every news media house piling in with snippets about the country of Denmark & its beautiful capital city Copenhagen, I would like to showcase a sight & two man made marvels – which I saw couple of months back when I was traveling from Copenhagen. Both the marvels I saw were on my train ride from Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmo in Sweden. One of the most beautiful stretches of travel that had a refreshing touch and an everlasting imprint on my memory. The travel time from one station to the next takes you roughly 25-30 minutes by train. Apart from the bridge, there are regular ferry services between the two cities. The bridge also has a roadway that connects the Danish capital of Copenhagen with Malmo city, and it was by bus that I made my journey coming back from Malmo. On August 14, 1999, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark met on the bridge to mark the fact that Denmark and Sweden are linked once more – 7,000 years after the Ice Age when they were landlocked. Opened for public in the year 2000, the Oresund Bridge is a combined two track rail four lane bridge tunnel across the Oresund strait. Denmark has a temperate climate with the average day time temperature during summers (June – August) ranging between 17 to 19 degree Celsius. However, being a coastal country Denmark can be rather wet and windy. I visited Copenhagen in September and based on my personal experience I can say that the wind made it so cool that I found my teeth clinking and clattering every now and then though the temperature was around 15 degree Celsius only! It is this windy nature of the country that facilitates the working of huge wind mills. The city is full of them hence contributing towards the power requirement of the country in a clean renewable way. Much has been said about Global Warming. It’s a burning hot subject. And Denmark certainly looks to live upto doing its bit towards a global solution by generating power through renewable energy sources.

Getting back to Oresund Bridge, what makes it more beautiful is that it crosses right over the Oresund strait. The sight of deep blue water from up above is truly stunning. Oresund also called as The Sound, is one of the three Danish Straits that connects the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean via Kattegat, Skagerrak and the North Sea, and is considered one of the busiest waterways in the world. And as you cross over this bridge I saw a group of huge windmills which form a part of one of the most famous windmill farms in the world. There were around 50 odd windmills grouped parallel in different rows right in the middle of the sea! This larger than life picturesque view is a sight in itself and no words can truly explain the experience. With a length of 16 kms (approx) the Oresund Bridge is the world’s longest single bridge carrying both road and railway traffic. The high bridge with its record-breaking cable-stayed span of 490m is designed to harmonize both structurally and aesthetically with the approach bridges. In the construction phase the on-site activities were completed in just 2 1/2 years due to an extensive use of prefabrication and erection of large units. The 16 Kms Bridge is a combined bridge and tunnel and one of the largest constructions in Europe with its 8 kilometer bridge, 4 kilometers artificially made island, called Peberholm, and a 4 kilometer long tunnel. There is a toll fee that is charged for crossing the Oresund Bridge which can be paid in either Danish Kroner or Swedish Kroner or Euros. The sight of the windmills churning away in the middle of the sea is truly a spellbinding one. One of those sights which I will cherish for a long, long time to come… 🙂