Stocksundet is a

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 ...

in Stockholm County in

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 ...

. It connects the Edsviken sea inlet, to the west, with the

Lilla Värtan Lilla Värtan () or simply Värtan is a strait in Stockholm, Sweden. Separating mainland Stockholm from the island and municipality Lidingö, it stretches from Blockhusudden in the south to Stora Värtan in the north, and is joined by the Stocks ...

strait and eventually the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, to the east. The strait also forms the border between the suburb of

Stocksund Stocksund () is an upper-class suburb in Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden. Located immediately across the Edsviken and Stocksundet from Bergshamra, Stocksund is one of four parts of Danderyd Municipality north of Stockholm, which is the mos ...

Danderyd Municipality Danderyd Municipality (; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is located within Stoc ...

, to the north, and the suburb of Bergshamra in

Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...

, to the south. The strait is approximately long and varies in width between and , whilst its depth varies between and . Stocksundet is supposed to have received its name from the

log Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathe ...

s (Swedish: "stock") which used to be laid out in the water to stop invading ships in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. This name then led to the place name of ''Stocksund'', on the north side of the sound, and to the heraldry shield of the then Stocksund Municipality between 1955 and 1966. By the 1400s, the road between Roslagen and Stockholm crossed Stocksundet, and by the 17th century, a

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 ...

was provided. In 1716 the first bridge across the Stocksundet was built, principally to facilitate the movement of troops to the west in the event of an attack by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Since then, there have been a total of seven bridges built across the strait.

Bridges

From west to east, the strait is spanned by a bridge for the Stockholm metro, a road bridge for the

European route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...

, and a bridge for the

Roslagsbanan Roslagsbanan () is a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge commuter railway system in Roslagen, Stockholm County, Sweden. Its combined route length is and there are 38 stations. It is built to the Swedish three foot gauge railways, Swedish three fo ...

narrow gauge commuter railway. Over time there have been seven bridges across the Stocksundet: * The first bridge was built in 1716 the first bridge was built. It was a floating bridge with a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

that could be opened to allow boat traffic to pass. Despite needing frequent repairs, the bridge lasted until September 1824, when it was destroyed in a violent storm. * In 1825-1826 a new long bridge was built in five sections between stone caissons and including a swing section. The bridge was superseded as a road bridge with the opening of a new bridge in 1936 but remained in use a pedestrian and bicycle bridge until the winter of 1957/8. The land ends of the bridge are still visible, along with the bridge house. * In 1885 a railway bridge was constructed to carry the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

. The bridge carried a single track, and was long, and comprised two fixed spans of together with a pivoting span. This bridge was replaced by a new bridge, on a different alignment, in 1996, and was demolished two years later. One of the bridge piers still exists within the state, and the land ends of the bridge are visible. * Between 1934 and 1936, a modern

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 ...

arch bridge was built a little further west than the 1826 road bridge. It had a span of and was wide, carrying two walkways, two bicycle lanes, and a carriageway. This bridge had a relatively short life and was replaced in 1990, being demolished in order to make way for its replacement. * In 1978 a bridge was built to carry the extension of the Stockholm metro to Mörby centrum station. The bridge is long, and consists of a four-span curved concrete structure, with a navigation clearance of . The bridge carries twin tracks, and the line runs in a tunnel at each end of the bridge. * By the 1980s, the 1936 road bridge was no longer able to carry the increasingly intensive road traffic, and it was decided to replace it with two new parallel bridges for the Norrtälje road (E18) (one for north and one for south-traffic). The first of these bridges was completed in 1990, enabling the 1936 bridge to be demolished to make way for the second new bridge, which opened in 1992. The bridges have two large and one small span each, with the largest span of , with a navigation clearance of . The bridges are respectively and wide, carrying three northbound and four southbound lanes, together with pedestrian and cycle facilities. * In 1996 a new railway bridge was built for the Roslagsbanan, located west of the 1885 bridge, as part of the reconstruction of the line to

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

. The new alignment necessitated the relocation of Stocksund station. The new bridge was designed by architect and is a concrete structure with four spans. It is long and has a navigation clearance of , somewhat lower than the adjacent road and metro bridges.

References

Bibliography

* *
{{Coord, 59, 23, 00, N, 18, 02, 26, E, type:landmark, display=title Straits of the Stockholm archipelago Geography of Stockholm Landforms of Stockholm County