VIDEO: The Road to “Nowhere”

Between Denmark and Sweden there is a unique “disappearing” bridge named the Øresund Bridge. Of course it doesn’t actually disappear, but it does turn into an underwater tunnel. It looks fascinating from above – some people call it “the road to nowhere”.

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According to Wikipedia, the Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden/Finland.

The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Oresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link, connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI.

The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections.

The concept of a bridge over the Øresund was first formally proposed in 1936 by a consortium of engineering firms who proposed a national motorway network for Denmark. The idea was dropped during World War II, but picked up again thereafter and studied in significant detail in various Danish-Swedish government commissions through the 1950s and 60s.

However, disagreement existed regarding the placement and exact form of the link, with some arguing for a link at the narrowest point of the sound at Helsingør-Helsingborg, further north of Copenhagen, and some arguing for a more direct link from Copenhagen to Malmö.

Additionally, some regional and local interests argued that other bridge and road projects, notably the unbuilt at that time Great Belt Fixed Link, should take priority. The governments of Denmark and Sweden eventually signed an agreement to build a fixed link in 1973. However, that project was cancelled in 1978 due to the economic situation, and growing environmental concerns. As the economic situation improved in the 1980s, interest continued and the governments signed a new agreement in 1991.

A joint venture of Hochtief, Skanska, Højgaard & Schultz and Monberg & Thorsen, began construction of the bridge in 1995 and completed it 14 August 1999. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden met midway across the bridge-tunnel on 14 August 1999 to celebrate its completion.

The official dedication took place on 1 July 2000, with Queen Margrethe II, and King Carl XVI Gustaf as the host and hostess of the ceremony. Because of the death of nine people, including three Danes and three Swedes, at the Roskilde Festival the prior evening, the ceremony opened with a minute of silence.