Øresund Bridge

The Öresund Bridge or Øresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron, joint hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. In Denmark and Sweden, the bridge is most often referred to as Øresundsbroen and Öresundsbron, respectively. The bridge company itself insists on Øresundsbron, a compromise between the two languages. This symbolises a common cultural identity for the region, with some regular commuters considering themselves "Öresund citizens" once the Oresund Bridge was completed.

The bridge runs nearly 8 km from the Swedish coast to the artificial island of Peberholm, which lies in the middle of the strait. The remainder of the link is by tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager. The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, and connects two major metropolitan areas: those of the Danish capital city Copenhagen and the major Swedish city Malmö. Furthermore, the Øresund Bridge connects the road and rail networks of Scandinavia with those of Central and Western Europe. The international European route E20 crosses this bridge-tunnel via the road, and the Oresund Line uses the railway. The Oresund Bridge was designed by the Danish architectural practice Dissing+Weitling.

The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a underwater tunnel for part of the way – rather than simply raising that section of the bridge – was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen International Airport, and also to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait.

The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.

Initially, the crossing was not used as much as expected, probably because of the high tolls. Since 2005, there has been a rapid increase in traffic. This may have been caused by Danes buying homes in Sweden – to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö – and commuting to work in Denmark.

At 7,845 m the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager. The bridge joins the Drogden tunnel on the artificial island christened Peberholm (Pepper Islet). The Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of Saltholm (Salt Islet) just to the north. They also made Peberholm a designated nature reserve. Built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, Peberholm is approximately 4 km long with an average width of 500 m. The connection between the artificial island of Peberholm and the artificial peninsula at Kastrup on Amager island – the nearest populated part of Denmark – is through the 4,050 m long Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen).

The public transport rail system is operated jointly by Swedish and Danis traffic companies.

The cost for the entire Oresund Connection construction, including motorway and railway connections on land, was calculated at DKK 30.1 billion with the cost of the bridge paid back by 2035. In 2006 Sweden began spending a further SEK 9.45 billion on the Malmö City Tunnel as a new rail connection to the bridge. It was completed in December 2010.

The connection will be entirely user financed. The owner company is owned half by the Danish government and half by the Swedish government. This owner company has taken loans guaranteed by the governments to finance the connection, and the user fees are the only incomes for the company. After the increase in traffic, these fees are enough to pay the interest and begin paying back the loans, which is expected to take about 30 years. The tax payers have not paid for the bridge and the tunnel. However, tax money has been used for the land connections. Especially on the Danish side, the land connection has domestic benefit, mainly connecting the airport to the railway network. The Malmö City Tunnel has the benefit of connecting the southern part of the inner city to the rail network and allowing many more trains to and from Malmö.