The Svinesund Bridge (, ) is a
through arch bridge crossing
Iddefjord
Iddefjord ( or Idde Fjord; ); ) is a classic fjord with a narrow watercourse and steep natural formations on both sides. It runs along the Sweden-Norway border, Norwegian-Swedish border from the Singlefjord ().''A Brief Geographical and Hydro Gra ...
at
Svinesund, and joining
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. Svinesund is a
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
separating the Swedish municipality of
Strömstad
Strömstad is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Strömstad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 6,288 inhabitants in 2010. For historical reasons, Strömstad is called a Stad (Sweden), ''city'' despite its small popu ...
from the Norwegian municipality of
Halden
Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...
, and thus it is the
border between Norway and Sweden in this region. The bridge is the westernmost border crossing (and one of the southernmost) between the two countries and carries the
European route E6
European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...
which is a major traffic route in the area, connecting
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and the rest of Norway with
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
,
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
and the rest of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Description of the bridge
The New Svinesund Bridge is a highway bridge across the Iddefjord at Svinesund. The bridge's construction cost was
NOK
Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site.
Archaeology
The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...
500 million, while the total cost of the project including approach work, customs (this is an EU border) and
toll plazas, and new interchanges for E6 (with the old bridge and old E6 becoming local routes) was
SEK 1,400 million. The project is a joint venture of the Swedish and Norwegian road authorities, and all costs are to be financed with tolls (some writings refer to them as "road tax") collected. Both bridges were tolled in both directions. The toll plaza stopped on 15. March 2021.
The total length of the bridge is and consists of a substructure in ordinary reinforced concrete together with a steel box-girder superstructure. The main span of the bridge between abutments is approximately and consists of a single ordinary reinforced concrete arch which carries two steel box-girder bridge decks, one on either side of the arch. The level of the top of the arch and the bridge deck are + and +, respectively. Over the part of the bridge where the arch rises above the level of the bridge decking, the two bridge decks are joined by traverse beams positioned at centres. The traverse beams are in turn supported by hangers to the concrete arch.
Construction notes

The bridge was constructed between 2003 and 2005 and was inaugurated on 10 June 2005, and opened for traffic on 13 June that year. Unusually for a two hinge concrete arch bridge, the arch was built using cantilever construction supported by temporary cable stays. The bridge was engineered by
Bilfinger Berger, who also acted as general contractors.
The two halves of the arch were cast using similar climbing formwork, with concrete provided via a cable conveyor. The construction system had an hydraulic self climbing casting mould which was anchored to the
most recently completed arch segment, and segments were added at a rate of about 1 per week
illustration showing process. Each segment used about 60 cubic meters of k70 class concrete, and there were about 50 segments per side. The arch itself is hollow, and has been provided with heating coils to keep it free from ice and snow build up as well as navigation lights and interior maintenance pathways (info taken from thi
PDFat the joint bridge info site).
Once the arch was in place, the stays, temporary concrete stay towers and cable conveyors were removed, and the roadway segments added. Some were added in place, but the centre roadway section under the arch wa
floatedin on barges, as a complete section, and raised into place.
Old Svinesund Bridge
The
former Svinesund Bridge, inaugurated on 15 June 1946,
to the east, was renamed the Old Svinesund Bridge but is still in service as a complement to the new bridge. Heavy trucks (gross weight exceeding ) are no longer permitted on the old bridge now that the new one is available. A significant part of Norwegian trade in goods was carried by trucks crossing the bridge, which now travels on the new bridge.
It was built during the war period 1939–1946. It was delayed because of the war and the fact that it was partly destroyed when lightning ignited explosives (1942), placed on the bridge as a defence measure.
See also
*
List of international bridges
An international bridge is a structure that provides transportation across border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such a ...
References
External links
Swedish Road Administration's project sitePDFon engineering and construction from the above site
PDFon topography and project profile from the above site
Oldan
NewSvinesund Bridge on en.broer.no
*
* {{Structurae, id=20004797, title=Svinesund Bridge (2005)
Mapat commercial site multimap.com, showing the old and new bridges (new shown as dotted, under construction) and rerouting of E6
Through arch bridges
Deck arch bridges
Bridges completed in 1946
Bridges completed in 2005
International bridges
Concrete bridges
Road bridges in Østfold
Norway–Sweden border crossings
2005 establishments in Norway
European route E6 in Norway
2005 establishments in Sweden