Öresundsbron - Oeresund Bridge
The Öresundsbron or Øresundsbroen bridge connects the greater Copenhagen area in Denmark with Skåne and Malmoe or Malmö in Sweden across the Øresund sound.
Öresundsbron was opened on July 1, 2000, and has quickly had a tremendous effect on life in the Øresund region. Danes move to Sweden to take advantage of cheaper real estate and a lower cost of living and Swedes come to Denmark to work and shop.
The Oeresund Bridge is a major logistic crossroads - 20,000 cars and 22,000 train passengers cross the bridge daily, and ship traffic is intense through the Øresund sound. Part of the bridge and tunnel design has been to accomodate the split of ship traffic in two and have Northgoing ships sail at the Eastern side of the sound and Southgoing ships keep West and sail over the tunnel.
Öresundsbron is the World's longest cable-stayed bridge. The entire length of the link between the beginning of the tunnel at Kastrup Airport to Lernacken in Sweden is 15.5 kilometers. The first section is 3.5 kilometers of tunnel, the World's largest immersed tunnel. Then the 4 kilometer long stretch on the new island of Peberholmen which was built from the bottom materials removed to make space for tunnel and bridge elements. Finally the 8 kilometer long cable-stayed bridge. The pylons are 204 meters high and the free span between the pylons is 490 meters wide.
The Öresundsbron was located further South than would have been ideal, to allow safe and unhindered air traffic to and from Copenhagen Airport. If you sit next to a window in the left side of a plane landing at Copenhagen Airport or CPH, chances are you'll have a great view of the entire Öresundsbron bridge.
The artificial island of Peberholmen which was built to connect tunnels and bridge has since its construction become home to birds, flowers and plants that are rare in Denmark and Sweden. In addition, nesting platforms for Peregrine Falcons have been added to the sides of the cable-stay bridge. The tall building behind Peberholmen and the beginning of the cable-stay bridge is the Turning Torso building, one of the tallest buildings in Europe.
In addition to the economical and logistical advantages, the Öresundsbron bridge is aesthetically pleasing - it looks good. In 2002, Öresundsbron won the Outstanding Structure Award by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in recognition of its remarkable, innovative and creative design.