Stocksundet is a strait in

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stoc ...

in Sweden. It connects the Edsviken sea inlet, to the west, with the Lilla Värtan strait and eventually 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 ...

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

Danderyd Municipality Danderyd Municipality (''Danderyds kommun''; ) 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 ...

, to the north, and the suburb of Bergshamra in

Solna Municipality Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of ...

, 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 logs (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, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the M ...

. 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 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. 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 The Stockholm metro ( sv, Stockholms tunnelbana) is a rapid transit system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are three colo ...

, a road bridge for the

European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jo ...

, and a bridge for the

Roslagsbanan Roslagsbanan is a 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. The Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) classifie ...

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 ...

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 Caisson (French for "box") may refer to: * Caisson (Asian architecture), a spider web ceiling * Caisson (engineering), a sealed underwater structure * Caisson (lock gate), a gate for a dock or lock, constructed as a floating caisson * Caisson (pe ...

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 narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

. The bridge carried a

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, 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 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 ...

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

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 lin ...

. 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 Sweden Geography of Stockholm Landforms of Stockholm County