The Omsund Bridge () is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

that crosses the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

Omsundet between the islands of

Frei Frei may refer to: People * Frei family, a Chilean family formed by the descendants of Swiss Eduardo Frei Schlinz and Chilean Victoria Montalva Martínez * Frei (surname), a surname * Frei Otto, German architect Places Brazil * Frei Gaspar, a ...

and

Nordlandet Nordlandet is an island in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located just east of the city center of Kristiansund, and is one of the boroughs of the city. The island is home to Kristiansund Airport, K ...

Kristiansund Municipality Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of K ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

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 ...

. The link is actually made up of two bridges: The main bridge crosses form Nordlandet to the

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

of Rensvikholmen and then the smaller Rensviksundet bridge completes the crossing to Frei. Prior to the merger of

and

Frei Municipality Frei is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2008 when it was incorporated into Kristiansund Municipality. It was located b ...

on 1 January 2008, the bridges crossed the border between the two municipalities. The original bridge was in use from 1940 until 1981. The second bridge is currently in use, and a third bridge has been proposed. The bridges lies just south of the

Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget Kristiansund Airport (; ) is an international airport serving the town of Kristiansund (town), Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet in Kristiansund Municipality. It is the sole ...

Old bridge

A bridge crossing of Omsundet was initially proposed in 1875 by the town engineer in Kristiansund,

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Christian Fredrik Bødtker, together with a bridge crossing of Nordsundet, but no bridges were built. The long original bridge is a steel

through arch bridge A through arch bridge, also known as a through-type arch bridge, is a bridge that is made from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete, in which the base of an arch structure is below the deck but the top rises above it. It can either be lo ...

. The Omsund Bridge was opened for traffic in April 1940, but with no

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the invasion of Norway. Local young men just tore down the barricades in the middle of the night. On 22 April 1940,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

s tried to destroy the new bridge, but missed and managed only to kill the 15-year-old boy Ingolf Helge Vatten on a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

several hundred meters away on Frei, and set the

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

on fire on Nordlandet. Remains of one of the bombs that caused the

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

are on display next to the

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

. In May that year, the new bridge was crucial during the

emergency evacuation Emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm ...

caused by the burning of Kristiansund. This bridge to the island of

made it possible to shorten the

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

between Kristiansund and

Gjemnes Municipality Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship ...

on the mainland by , when a new road crossing Frei to Kvitnes on Flatsetøya was completed in 1951. The ferry was finally replaced with the

undersea An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the underw ...

Freifjord Tunnel The Freifjord Tunnel () is a long undersea tunnel under the Freifjorden in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tunnel is part of the Norwegian National Road 70. The tunnel begins on the island of Frei in Kristiansund Municipality and then desce ...

in 1992 as part of the

Kristiansund Mainland Connection The Kristiansund Mainland Connection ( or abbreviated ''Krifast'') is a road system consisting of the European route E39 highway and Norwegian National Road 70 that connects Kristiansund Municipality to the neighboring islands of Frei, Bergsøya ...

. The old bridge was replaced in 1981, but it finally opened officially in a ceremony on 24 April 2005, 65 years late, and 24 years after it was replaced. It was then made accessible again for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

s and

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

s, and protected as an important sample of Norwegian bridges built in the 1930s.

Current bridge

A new long

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

, with two lanes and a fenced

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. ...

for pedestrians and cyclists, was built right alongside of the old, narrow bridge in 1981. The bridge carries

Norwegian National Road 70 National Road 70 () is a long national highway that runs from the town of Kristiansund in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and the village of Oppdal in Oppdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The road starts in ...

, in that area named Freikollveien. The main spans horizontal curvature was unusually tight, for a concrete cantilever bridge of the time. In the New Year's Day Storm of 1992, the bridge was hit by a large

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

trawler, and

concrete degradation Concrete degradation may have many different causes. Concrete is mostly damaged by the corrosion of reinforcement bars, the carbonatation of hardened cement paste or chloride attack under wet conditions. Chemical damage is caused by the formati ...

repair was performed on the bridge in 2013.

Future bridge

On 18 March 2010, preliminary plans for a new long replacement bridge were unveiled, as a part of a future, larger

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

to Kristiansund.

References

{{reflist Bridges in Møre og Romsdal Bridges completed in 1981 Bridges completed in 1940 Buildings and structures in Kristiansund 1981 establishments in Norway 1940 establishments in Norway Norwegian National Road 70

Old bridge

Current bridge

Future bridge

See also

References