The Skodje Bridge ( no, Skodje bru) 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 ...

that crosses the Skodjestraumen in

Ålesund Municipality Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative cen ...

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

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located south of the village of

Tennfjord Tennfjord is a village that is located at the end of the Grytafjorden in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territor ...

, west of

Skodje Skodje (''pronunciation'': kɔʏəor køʏə is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Skodje. The other main village in the municipality ...

, and northwest of Valle. There are actually three bridges over Skodjestraumen. The newest bridge is called the Straum Bridge ( no, Straumsbrua). It is a steel

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a ...

that is long. It was opened on 3 July 2004. It replaced the old Skodje Bridge. This new bridge is a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

Old bridges

The two old Skodje Bridges are also arch bridges, the longest masonry arch road bridge in Norway. The longer one is approximately with a span of 59 m and a maximum clearance to the sea of . The building of the old bridges started in 1911 and were opened in 1922. They cost . The old bridges still stand, but are not in a good shape. For the last few years before the new bridge was opened, the old bridges had restrictions on the weight and width of the cars that crossed it, and that meant that heavier traffic had to take a longer road through the village of Skodje. This was of course very impractical. With the new bridge in operation, the old bridges are now open only for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

History

On 10 August 1880, two teachers wrote to the local council, requesting a road, going from the main road by Svortavatnet, to the Vatne lake, with a bridge over Straumen. It was not until 1909 that the local council agreed to pay to start the work on the bridge. Chief engineer Hovdenakk, from the Public Roads Administration office in

Molde Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

, constructed and led the work on the bridge.

Gallery

File:Skodjebru3.jpg , Old Skodje Bridge File:Skodjebru1.jpg, Old Skodje Bridge detail File:Skodjebru2.jpg, ''Skodjebru'' name plate

Photographs

New Bridge

Old Bridge

References

{{Reflist

External links