The Crusell Bridge ( Finnish: ''Crusellinsilta'', Swedish: ''Crusellbron'') is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

in the Länsisatama district of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, crossing the Ruoholahti bay in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

, about 24.8 metres wide and connecting the

Ruoholahti Ruoholahti (; sv, label=Swedish, Gräsviken; both meaning "Grass Bay") is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. It is located in the southwestern part of the central city area of Helsinki, clo ...

and

Jätkäsaari Jätkäsaari (; sv, Busholmen) is a peninsula and a quarter in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It is part to the Kampinmalmi district and Länsisatama neighbourhood. It was the location of the main container harbour in Helsinki until late 2 ...

neighbourhoods. The bridge is a 173.4 metre long

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

, used by light traffic, automobile traffic and the

Helsinki tram The Helsinki tram network forms part of the Helsinki public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd (Finnish: Pääkaupunkiseudun Kaupunkiliikenne Oy, Swedish: Huvudsta ...

line 8. The bridge was inaugurated on 14 June 2011 by Mayor

Jussi Pajunen Jussi Ilmari Pajunen (born 5 September 1954 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician of the National Coalition Party and former city manager of Helsinki. Prior to this appointment, Pajunen served as a member of the City Council in 1997–2005, and ...

. The bridge has been named after the Finnish composer and clarinet player Bernhard Henrik Crusell.

Measurements and construction

The bridge is an asymmetric

with two openings. Its total length is 173.5 metres, the main stay is 92 metres, the Jätkäsaari-side stay is 51.5 metres and the width of the bridge is 24.8 metres. The bridge has light traffic ways on both sides, two lanes for automobile traffic and tram tracks in both directions in the middle. The pylon is made of steel and inclined, and its top is at a height of 49 metres from the sea surface. The supporting structure of the bridge is a tensioned concrete slab, on the side the bridge is a joined construction. The bridge has special lighting.Crusellin silta, Helsinki
WSP Finland Oy. Accessed on 18 July 2012. The appearance of the bridge is meant for airiness and lightness.Lättilä, Hannu: Skanska sai Crusellin sillan rakennusurakan. ''Rakennuslehti'' 25 September 2008. Suomen Rakennuslehti Oy

accessed on 18 July 2012. The bridge was designed by WSP Finland with Pekka Pulkkinen as the lead designer. It was constructed by

Skanska Infra Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...

and the construction cost 17.7 million

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

Design competition

Crusellinsilta bridge late in the evening

A design competition was held for the construction of the bridge, and it was resolved in spring 2002 and won by a bridge design by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

architect Ian P. T. Firth. However, the design was not viewed as realisable because of economic reasons. Three designs from two Finnish design studios were chosen for later review. The winning entry was a design by the name of ''Merimiekat'' by the studio SuunnitteluKortes.Mölsä, Seppo: Siltakilpailun voittaja hylättiin kalliina. ''Rakennuslehti'' 29 August 2002. Suomen Rakennuslehti Oy
Online version
accessed on 18 July 2012.

WSP Group WSP Global Inc. is a Canadian company with American and British roots, providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. After the purchase of New York-headquartered ...

bought SuunnitteluKortes in 2004.Taulavuori, Riitta: Suunnittelu-Kortes WSP-yhtiöön. Kansainvälinen konsulttiyritys halusi kumppanikseen oululaisen insinööritoimiston. ''Kaleva'' 4 January 2004, p. 10. Kaleva Oy
Online version
accessed on 18 July 2012.

References

{{Coord, 60, 09, 38, N, 24, 54, 30, E, display=title Cable-stayed bridges in Finland Buildings and structures in Helsinki Länsisatama