The Great Belt Bridge – Denmark
The Great Belt Bridge - Denmark
The Great Belt is the major of the three straits of Denmark that connect the Kattegat to the Baltic Sea. The others are Oresund and Little Belt.
The Great Belt is 60 kilometers long and 16–32 km. wide. It flows around two major islands: Sprogø in the north and Langeland to the south. At Sprogø the Great Belt divides into East Channel and West Channel. Both East and West are traversed by the Great Belt Bridge, but a tunnel runs under the East also.
The construction of the fixed link across the Great Belt became the biggest building project ever in the history of Denmark. In order to connect Halsskov on Zealand with Knudshoved on Funen, 18 kilometres to its west, a two-track railway and a four-lane motorway had to be built, aligned via the small island Sprogø in the middle of the Great Belt. In general terms, the project comprised three different construction tasks: The East Bridge for road transport, the East Tunnel for rail transport and the West Bridge for road and rail transport combined.
The East Bridge
Built between 1991 and 1998, the East Bridge (Østbroen) is a road suspension bridge between Halsskov and Sprogø. It is 6,790 metres (22,277 ft) long with a free span of 1,624 metres (5,328 ft),[2] making it the world’s third-longest suspension bridge span, surpassed only by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan and the Xihoumen Bridge in China. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge was opened two months earlier. The East Bridge was assumed to be the longest at completion, but was delayed and so number two when opened. The vertical clearance for ships is 65 metres (213 ft). At 254 metres (833 ft) above sea level, the two pylons of the East Bridge are the highest points on solid structures in Denmark. (Only some radio masts as Tommerup transmitter are taller).
To keep the main cables tensioned, an anchorage structure on each side of the span is placed below the road deck. Additionally, a total of 19 concrete pillars (12 on the Zealand side, 7 by Sprogø), each separated by a distance of 193 metres (633 ft), carry the road deck outside the span.
The West Bridge
The West Bridge (Vestbroen) is a box girder bridge[9] between Sprogø and Knudshoved. It is 6,611 metres (21,690 ft) long, and has a vertical clearance for ships of 18 metres (59 ft).[2] It is essentially two separate, adjacent bridges above water. The northern one carries rail traffic and the southern one carries road traffic. However, the pillars of the two bridges rest on common foundations below sea level. The West Bridge was built between 1988 and 1994; its road/rail deck comprises 63 sections, supported by 62 pillars.
The tunnel
The twin bored tunnel tubes of the East Tunnel (Østtunnelen) are 8,024 metres (4.986 mi) long each.[2] Between the two main tunnels 31 connecting tunnels were placed at 250 metres (820 ft) intervals. The equipment that is necessary for train operation in the tunnels is installed in the connecting tunnels. The connecting tunnels also serve as emergency escape routes.
During construction of the tunnels, the sea bed gave way and one of the tunnel pipes was flooded. The water continued to rise and reached the end at Sprogø, where it continued into the (still dry) other tunnel pipe. The water thus destroyed two of the four drilling machines, but no workers were injured. Only by drilling refrigeration hoses down into the sea bed and freezing the bottom was it possible to dry out the pipes, remove the defunct machines and complete the drilling from the Zealand side.
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