Essingebron - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Essingebron are two parallel bridges in central Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, inaugurated August 21, 1966, and September 3, 1967. Forming a section of the Essingeleden

Essingeleden

Essingeleden is a motorway that goes from Solna to Stockholm, Sweden, crossing the westmost parts of central Stockholm, by going over Kungsholmen, Lilla Essingen, and Stora Essingen....

motorway they connect the two islands Stora Essingen

Stora Essingen

Stora Essingen is an island and a district in the Kungsholmen borough in Stockholm, Sweden. The Essingeleden motorway, part of European route E4, passes along a section of the eastern shore...

and Lilla Essingen

Lilla Essingen

Lilla Essingen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden, next to the larger neighbouring island Stora Essingen.Both Essingen islands are mainly residential areas, the smaller densely packed with blocks of flats while the larger is scattered with villas...

and are the most heavily trafficked bridges in Sweden. The current bridges replaced a bridge called Stora Essingebron ("The Larger Essinge Bridge") inaugurated on May 10, 1965, as the motorway being built then resulted in a number of bridges connecting to Stora Essingen and the name was considered ambiguous. (See also Mariebergsbron

Mariebergsbron

Mariebergsbron is a bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Formerly known as Lilla Essingebron, it connects the islands Kungsholmen to Lilla Essingen. The current name is due to the vicinity to the city district Marieberg....

). The motorway bridges are paralleled by a bridge for local use, Gamla Essinge Broväg ("Old Essinge Bridge road").

The increasing number of summer residences built on Stora Essingen during the 18th century were during the early 20th century gradually transformed into permanent residences. Therefore a first temporary Stora Essingebron was built in 1917 using the raft

Raft

A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...

s of the X-shaped pontoon bridge

Pontoon bridge

A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

once in service on the ice of Lake Riddarfjärden

Riddarfjärden

Riddarfjärden, literally the Knight Firth, is a bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren drains into the Baltic Sea . The island is today called Stadsholmen and constitutes Stockholm's Old Town...

during winters. Across the central seaway, a hand-pulled ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

connected the two pathways until replaced by a flap in 1921.

Finally in 1927 the City Council decided on building a permanent bridge, inaugurated the following year. The central part of the steel construction spanned the 185 metres between the islands using five 40 metres long spans, and was continuous on both sides with viaduct

Viaduct

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...

s giving the entire bridge a total length of 339 metres. It was 7,6 metres wide with a 5,2 metres wide roadway, and offered an horizontal clearance of 13 metres. A severe bus accident in 1948 when a bus crashed through a railings of the bridge killing 11, lead to an examination of the bridge in 1951, followed by reinforcement by draw barriers and the amelioration of the pile foundation.

In contrast to many of the other bridges in Stockholm, the route passing over the bridge was a cul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...

, and the bridge could therefore handle the increasing post-WW2 traffic load. However, with the construction of the Essingeleden

Essingeleden

Essingeleden is a motorway that goes from Solna to Stockholm, Sweden, crossing the westmost parts of central Stockholm, by going over Kungsholmen, Lilla Essingen, and Stora Essingen....

motorway, the old bridge had to be scrapped and replaced by a new, inaugurated in 1966. Gamla Essinge Broväg is 470 metres long; 11 metres wide with a 8 metres roadway; and offers a horizontal clearance of 16 metres between the major 100 metres wide span.

October 14, 2005, the pontoon crane 'Lodbrok' collided with the bridge, causing a major traffic jam.

External links

Stockholmskällan - a photo from 1928 of Stora Essingebron.

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