This world has various architectural marvels. Some are ancient and centuries old, while some are made in modern times. It is often said that the achievements of mankind in the sciences and arts are among its few redeeming qualities in an otherwise chaotic world. Innovations and discoveries, futuristic thoughts .
One of such creations that are luring tourists from faraway places is the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden.
Connecting the Two Nations
Pronounced as ‘air-o-soond’, this is the longest combined road-and-rail bridge in Europe, which was a joint venture between Denmark and Sweden to connect the two countries. The work on the bridge was started in 1995 by a joint consortium of Swedish and Danish companies with a deadline to complete the project in five years.
The project was launched with an aim to connect the southernmost tip of Sweden with Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. This also meant that the 16 km bridge will also have a railway track to enhance the connectivity.
The First Hurdle
No great construction can take place without hurdles, and this one wasn`t an exception. The biggest problem was that Copenhagen Airport witnesses heavy air-traffic. This simply means that the bridge couldn`t be high enough to cause aircraft collisions neither it could be too low to obstruct ships passing underneath.
So the Swedish consortium came up with a solution to build part-bridge, part-tunnel. This way, it would neither be too low to obstruct the ships nor will it be too high to interfere with the air-traffic. To turn a bridge into a tunnel, an island was created. Yes, a man-made island!
To build this island in the middle of the ocean required lot of stones. To be precise, 1.8 billion kilograms of quarried stones were transported by 16 barges and deposited using a good number of cranes. During the digging process of seabed, the team also stumbled upon 16 undetonated bombs underneath the ocean, belonging to World War II. Also they needed to be extra careful while collecting materials from the seabed due to the environmental restrictions for the safety of marine life.
The Final Result
After coping up few more challenges like cultural and technical gaps between the Swedes and the Danes, the bridge was constructed and finally opened on 14th August, 1999, within the stipulated deadline. Talking about technical differences, the Swedish and Danish trains run on opposite sides, for instance. Also the voltage standards were different too.
So after collaborating and coming on common grounds for even the tiniest detail, this manmade marvel of modern human engineering was gifted to the world. So why not witness it in person after reading this blog? Sweden and Denmark is one of the best vacation spots.
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