
Centralbron (, "The Central Bridge") is a major bridge in central
Stockholm,
Sweden, connecting the northern district
Norrmalm
Norrmalm is a city district in Stockholm, Sweden.
History
Norrmalm is part of the larger borough of Norrmalm (''Norrmalms stadsdelsområde'').
The southern part of the district, Lower Norrmalm (''Nedre Norrmalm''), also known as City, con ...
to the southern
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm.
Overview
The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wa ...
.
It is 1,200 metres long and consists of two
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide va ...
s passing over
Söderström ("Southern Stream") and
Riddarfjärden
Riddarfjärden (, "The Knight Firth") is the easternmost bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren (from the west) drains into the Baltic Sea (to the east); today the ...
close to
Norrström
Norrström is one of the shortest rivers in Europe in central Stockholm. It connects Lake Mälaren with the Baltic Sea. It runs from Riddarfjärden, north of Gamla stan, to Stockholms ström (the western part of Saltsjön). Two islands lie wi ...
("Northern Stream") with an interjacent elevated section traversing
Riddarholmskanalen and the adjacent eastern waterfront of
Riddarholmen
Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Ridd ...
. Centralbron has a capacity for 130,000 cars per day. It is paralleled by the bridges (''Södra'' and ''Norra järnvägsbron'') and the tunnel of a two-track railway used by the
commuter and
freight train
Rail freight transport is the use of rail transport, railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of Railroad car#Freight cars, freight cars (US) or goods wagon ...
s. Centralbron does partly go on top of the
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...
which opened on this stretch 1957 and planned together with the bridge.
Over the years, Centralbron together with a suggested additional railway track have been much criticized and debated because of their unwieldy and rumbling presence in a delicate historical setting. Lately, the construction of a tunnel to replace them has been suggested. The cost of such a tunnel, several billion kronor, has put this on hold without any time set. A new metro tunnel has also been suggested because the metro goes below and parallel to Centralbron, making it a total of seven rail tracks and six road lanes crossing the water south of Gamla Stan on bridges. A new railway tunnel costing 15 billion kronor (
Citybanan) was finished in 2017 but the existing railway was kept. The older railway is currently being upgraded during eight weeks each summer until 2020.
Nearby bridges include
Riddarholmsbron
Riddarholmsbron (, "The Knights Islet bridge") is a bridge in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, leading from the square Riddarhustorget on Stadsholmen to the smaller neighbouring island Riddarholmen.
History
Wooden bri ...
,
Vasabron,
Strömsborgsbron
Strömsborgsbron (Swedish language, Swedish: "Bridge of Strömsborg") is a three-way bridge in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It connects the islet Strömsborg to the bridge Vasabron.
The present bridge is from 1992–1993 ...
, and
Hebbes Bro.
Background
Since the first decade of the 20th century, numerous proposals labelled "Centralbron" had been produced and more than 20 of them scrapped before the elaboration of the general plan of 1928. During the 1930s the need for a "central bridge" crossing
Gamla stan Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla st ...
, the old city, declined due to the realization of the plans for a western traffic route,
Västerbron, and the clover-shaped traffic junction at
Slussen, both finally inaugurated in 1935.
[
]
In 1930 plans for a Centralbron was therefore substituted by a temporary solution, by its customers dubbed ''Slingerbultsleden'' ("The Dodge Route"), criss-crossing the western streets of Gamla stan using two temporary bridges crossing Riddarholmskanalen to open out on
Vasabron. While the
metro system and Centralbron were being constructed Slingerbultsleden had to be scrapped, and in 1953 it was substituted by a
pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow- draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...
connecting the northern end of the now non-existent Riddarholmskajen ("Quay of Riddarholmen") to
Klara strand Klara may refer to:
* Klara, a female given name, see Clara (given name)
* Klara (radio), a classical-music radio station in Belgium
* Klara (singer), birth name Klára Vytisková (born 1985), Czech singer
* Klara (Stockholm), an area of central S ...
. Its 7 metres wide roadway had a maximum capacity of 20,000 cars per day and remained in use until the completion of the northern bridge in 1967.
The southern bridge

WW2 further delayed any attempts to elaborate a permanent solution, but in 1947 a decision to build a southern bridge crossing Söderström was taken, and work finally begun in 1950. The and bridge stretches over six spans with a maximum span of 33.7 metres. The continuous
steel girders of the roadway are resting on
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...
pillars firmly anchored to the soil by numerous poles.
To the south, another two spans are stretching some 46 metres over
Söder Mälarstrand Söder means ''South''. It may also refer to:
Places in Sweden
*Södermalm, a major district of central Stockholm
*Söder, Malmö
*Södermanland
*Södertörn
*Söderhamn Municipality
*Söderköping Municipality
*Södertälje Municipality
Places in ...
("Southern Shore of Lake Mälaren") before three smaller spans hands the roadway over to
Söderledstunneln ("The Southern Route Tunnel"). To the north, the bridge is continuous with a viaduct passing over the
Gamla stan metro station
Gamla stan is a station on the Green and Red lines of the Stockholm metro. It is located on the western side of the Gamla stan (''Old town'') district of central Stockholm, and is at ground level, although partly under the Centralbron bridge that ...
, opened 1957. The viaduct is made of a concrete roadway resting on steel girders.
The entire structure was completed and inaugurated June 16, 1959 and the name 'Centralbron' made official by a naming committee that assumed a ''Österbron'' ("The Eastern Bridge") would be built, thus making Centralbron a truly 'central' bridge.
[
] An eastern route is not a timely topic, for several reasons but particularly because of the
Royal National City Park
The Royal National City Park ( sv, Kungliga nationalstadsparken) is a national city park, established by the Riksdag in 1995, and located in the municipalities of Stockholm, Solna and Lidingö in Sweden.
1/ km²2/ Population per km²
Gall ...
taking up most of the area east of the city, thus making such a route infeasible. There is however a
Western Bridge
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
.
The northern bridge

The realization of the northern bridge stretching over Norrström had to be postponed until the enlargement of the traffic junction at
Tegelbacken
Tegelbacken is a junction at Norrmalm in Central Stockholm and the name of several streets that contains the junction. At Tegelbacken the traffic are connected to the Centralbron, Vasabron, Nynäsvägen and Gamla stan.
References
Stree ...
was resolved in 1961. The bridge, finally inaugurated September 3, 1967, is a and reinforced concrete structure with an average span of 19 meters. To the north, it makes a sharp turn to the west where it extends over the railway, and connects to
Klarastrandsleden.
The bridge over the railway replaced a level crossing nicknamed ''Tegelbackseländet'' ("The Tegelbacken misery"), since it created long traffic jams as an effect of the 1960s traffic increase.
See also
*
List of bridges in Stockholm
*
History of Stockholm
References
External links
{{Coord, 59, 19, 24.6, N, 18, 04, 00.4, E, display=title, region:SE_type:landmark
Bridges in Stockholm
Bridges completed in 1967
Bridges completed in 1959