Stord Bridge
Stord Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 59°44′51″N 5°24′10″E / 59.74750°N 5.40278°E |
Carries | Two lanes of E39 One pedestrian/bicycle path |
Crosses | Digernessundet |
Locale | Stord, Norway |
Official name | Stordabrua |
Maintained by | Norwegian Public Roads Administration |
Characteristics | |
Design | Suspension bridge |
Total length | 1,077 m (3,533 ft) |
Width | 13.5 m (44 ft) |
Longest span | 677 m (2,221 ft) |
Clearance below | 18 m (59 ft) |
History | |
Opened | 28 December 2000 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 6,690[1] |
Location | |
The Stord Bridge (
Plans for a crossing arose in the 1960s; and until the 1990s proposals were for a
Background
The motivation for the Triangle Link was the desire to have a fixed link between the islands of Stord and Bømlo. The first documented proposals were made in the 1960s and involved building a pontoon bridge across
In the early 1980s, plans for
Surveys of traffic patterns on Bømlo were undertaken by Vestland Public Roads Administration in 1984. Based on it and other feedback, the agency stated that it preferred a pontoon bridge between Foldrøyholmen and Sørstokken, north of the ferry between Bømlo and Stord. It was estimated to cost NOK 190 million, in addition to auxiliary roads for NOK 40 million. In 1982, plans were launched for a fixed link to the mainland further south, which would include a bridge over Digernessundet, a causeway and low bridge across Spissøysundet and a low bridge over Gassasundet. In addition, a tunnel would have to be built from Føyno to Sveio. This proposal was similar to the finalized Triangle Link.[5] In 1985, an all-tunnel proposal, following the same route, was proposed.[5] Hordaland Public Roads Administration stated that the proposals were unrealistic. The limited company Ytre Sunnhordland Bru- og Tunnelselskap AS (SBT) was founded in October 1986 by the municipalities of Bømlo, Stord, Fitjar and Sveio, Hordaland County Municipality and five banks.[6]
In December 1986, the Public Road Administration recommended a bridge solution.[7] SBT changed its name to Sunnhordland Bru- og Tunnelselskap, and a majority of the board shifted towards being in favor of a fixed link.[8] The Norwegian Coastal Administration stated that they would not allow a pontoon bridge.[9] On 26 June 1987, SBT decided to work towards permission to collect advanced tolls on the ferry services.[10] The board unanimously supported the triangular proposal on 16 September, which was estimated to cost NOK 660 million.[11] This was criticized by Hordaland Public Roads Administration, who stated that it would take longer time to plan, and thus complete, the Triangle Link.[12]
From 1988, environmentalists started actively opposing the Triangle Link. The most active were the local chapter of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature and Nature and Youth, who stated that the road would have serious consequences for the local boat traffic to the recreational islands of Føyno and Nautøy. Instead, they recommended that the municipalities chose a pontoon bridge.[13] Another opponent to the project was the Action Committee Against a Hasty Construction of the Triangle Link, who argued to delay the decision until after the 1991 municipal elections, to ensure that the municipal councils had backing in the public.[14] Gisle Tjong stated that the risk in the project was large and that it was uncertain how long the tolls would last: they could just as well be 60 as 15 years. He instead wanted to collect tolls in advance.[15]
The Triangle Link was passed by the various municipal councils in February and March 1988.[16][17] Hordaland Public Roads Administration still supported a pontoon bridge, and stated that two and a half years of work on a master plan had been wasted. A new master plan for the Triangle Link was published in early 1989.[18] During late 1989, advance tolls on the ferries was approved by the municipal councils and the county council. They recommended that collection start on 1 July 1990, but this was not immediately supported by the government.[19]
In July 1991, the master plan was passed by the
Construction
The construction of the Stord Bridge was undertaken as part of the same contract as the Bømla Bridge, which was awarded in December 1998 to Triangle Contractors, a joint venture between
The cables were spun on-site using a reel because of the problems which had arisen using a bundle on the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark. This also allowed for cost savings, as the reels could be used two times. The cables were spun using air spinning with controlled tension, which allowed spinning with little space and with a crew with limited spinning experience.[25] This involved installing a carrier which shuttles forward and back over the catwalk; it spins the upper side of the cable in the one direction and the lower side in the other direction. The system has two reel racks, each with four reels of wire. Each rack only uses one reel at a time, allowing for minimum down-time when changing reels. Wires were connected using pressure casing. The balance in the system is kept in place using a counterbalance tower.[26] Spinning of the main cable started on 2 March 2000 and was concluded on 14 April.[3] In all 11,600 kilometers (7,200 mi) of steel wire were used to create the cables. The two bridges were the first time that on-site spinning was chosen in Norway, and it gave a cost saving of NOK 10 to 11 million.[27]
The cables consist of seven bundles which consist of 420 wires—each with a diameter of 5.35 millimeters (0.211 in). When compressed, this gives a diameter of 320 millimeters (13 in) and a quality of 1,570
The deck sections were produced by HBG in
Specifications
The Stord Bridge is a 1,077-meter (3,533 ft) long suspension bridge with a 677-meter (2,221 ft) long main span. It carries two lanes of European route E39 and a combined pedestrian and bicycle path across Digernessundet, connecting the islands of Stord and Føyno. The bridge has a width of 13.5 meters (44 ft) and a clearance below of 18 meters (59 ft). It has two concrete pylons, each 97 meters (318 ft) tall,[27] one on Digernesklumpen on Stord, the other on a small islet just off Føyno.[32] The pylons consist of 2,800 cubic meters (99,000 cu ft) of concrete and 700 tonnes (690 long tons; 770 short tons) of steel.[3] The deck between the towers consists of 19 pre-built steel sections, each 36 meters (118 ft) long and 2.6 meters (8 ft 6 in) tall. They are connected to the main suspended cable, which is 360 millimeters (14 in) thick[30] and 1,142 meters (3,747 ft) long,[3] by vertical cables every 12 meters (39 ft). The bridge's vertical curvature has a radius of 11,640 meters (38,190 ft).[30] In 2012, the bridge had an average 5,284 vehicles per day.[1] The bridge was paid off and the tolls removed on 30 April 2013.[34]
References
- Bibliography
- Hauge, Stanley (2001). Under fjord – over flu (in Norwegian). Bergen: Eide. ISBN 82-514-0627-7.
- Notes
- ^ a b "ÅDT Nivå 1-punkt Hordaland" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Norwegian Public Roads Administration. p. 17. Retrieved 6 April 2016.[dead link]
- ^ Hauge: 32
- ^ a b c d e f Hauge: 100
- ^ Hauge: 33
- ^ a b c Hauge: 34
- ^ Hauge: 35
- ^ Hauge: 36
- ^ Hauge: 37
- ^ Hauge: 38
- ^ Hauge: 39
- ^ Hauge: 40
- ^ Hauge: 42
- ^ Hauge: 49
- ^ Hauge: 51
- ^ Hauge: 52
- ^ Hauge: 44
- ^ Hauge: 45
- ^ Hauge: 46
- ^ Hauge: 47
- ^ a b Hauge: 59
- ^ a b Hauge: 60
- ^ Hauge: 64
- ^ Hauge: 68
- ^ a b Hauge: 77
- ^ Hauge: 80
- ^ a b Hauge: 81
- ^ a b c Hauge: 104
- ^ Hauge: 82
- ^ Hauge: 86
- ^ a b c Hauge: 83
- ^ Hauge: 87
- ^ a b Hauge: 105
- ^ Hauge: 30
- ^ "Morten ble historisk bilist - igjen" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 25 May 2013.