Underwater bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden!

The Oresund Bridge connects Denmark and Sweden from Copenhagen to Malmo over the Oresund Sound. The bridge, which both support the motorway and the railway between Denmark and Sweden opened on the 1st of July 2000, and has resulted in a much closer relationship between Denmark and Sweden with plenty of people going to work by train from Sweden to Copenhagen every day.

In 1991, the Danish and Swedish governments signed an agreement to establish a fixed link across the Øresund. The agreement was ratified by the two countries' parliaments in August of the same year. Øresundskonsortiet, a joint venture between A/S Øresund and Svensk-Danska Broförbindelsen SVEDAB AB, constructed the permanent link between Sweden and Denmark. The project cost more than DKK12 billion and comprises a 16.4km (10-mile) link between Copenhagen and Malmö consisting of a tunnel, a bridge and an artificial island.

In May 2003 the Øresund Bridge won the IABSE Outstanding Structure Award. The judges commended the project for its innovative planning, design and construction management as well as its compliance with the time schedule, budget and tough environmental requirements.

The connection consist of the high cable-stayed bridge over Flinterenden used by the international ship traffic through Oresund, two connecting bridges plus a tunnel from the artificial island of Peberholm (build specially for the connection) to the Danish island Amager, just west of Downtown Copenhagen. The motorway is located on the “top floor” of the high bridge, while the trains use “the second floor” right below the motorway deck. Crossing the bridge is most impressing by car, while the train ride only provides limited views over the Oresund Sound. The total length of The Oresund Bridge and the tunnel is 15,4 kilometres.

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.