The King Frederick IX bridge ( da, Kong Frederik den 9's Bro; named for

King Frederick IX of Denmark Frederick IX ( da, Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of King Christian X and Quee ...

) is a combined

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), 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, whic ...

carrying the

Danish national road 9 Danish national road 9 ( Danish: Primærrute 9) is part of the Danish national road network. It runs between Odense on Funen and Nykøbing Falster on Falster by way of Svendborg, Tåsinge, Siø and Langeland, and involves a ferry crossing betw ...

as well as

Sydbanen Sydbanen (meaning 'the South Track') is a government-owned railway in Denmark. Technically, the line connects Ringsted with Nykøbing Falster, from which it branches to Gedser and Rødbyhavn. In practice, Ringsted is not the terminal station, so t ...

and

Lollandsbanen A/S Lollandsbanen was a Danish railway company operating the Nykøbing F–Nakskov line mostly on the island of Lolland. Established in 1954, it was based on the remains of Det Lolland-Falsterske Jernbane-Selskab (LFJS). The company received fun ...

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

s across the

Guldborgsund Guldborgsund is the strait between the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster. It connects Smålandsfarvandet in the north with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the south. The strait is about 30 kilometers long; its breadth varies from 150 meters at Gu ...

strait between the islands of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

and

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It joins the larger part of the city of Nykøbing on Falster with the smaller part of the town on Lolland. The rail link is a part of the railway section of the Fugleflugtslinjen

transport corridor A transport corridor is a generally linear area that is defined by one or more modes of transportation crossing the limits of more than one city or county like highways, railroads or public transit which share a common destination. Development of ...

between

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The bridge is and wide. It is a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

of beam design. The bridge carries four lanes of vehicle traffic and a single railway track.

History

In 1867, after many years of discussion, a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maxi ...

, the Christian IX Bridge, was constructed across the

from Nykøbing to

, which at its inauguration was the longest in Denmark. Furthermore, in

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

a separate

was constructed to allow for the

s on

to reach Nykøbing. Both bridges were

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

s which could be opened for passing ships. These two bridges existed – with several reconstructions – until 1963. The current Frederick IX Bridge was constructed between 1960 and 1962. The official opening was on 14 May 1963.

Future developments

There is a decision to widen the bridge with one more rail track and to fit electric overhead line, in connection with the

Fehmarn Belt Tunnel The Fehmarn Belt fixed link ( da, Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, german: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossi ...

. In order to cut cost for this, there is a wish from the tunnel company to not allow bridge openings after this.Vil lukke broklappen over Guldborgsund - sejlere frygter omvej på over 90 kilometer
/ref>

Features

left, 200px, Rail and road bascules in raised position The bridge has a central 20m span with two bascules, both on the eastern side of the bridge. One carries four lanes of vehicle traffic while the other carries a rail link. The two parts normally operate together. The bridge is manned during the day and opened on request for passing ships, but may only be opened once every half-hour. It is planned for the bridge to be re-equipped for automatic operation. 200px, Chamber into which the bascule counterweights sink when raised, showing drive racks The bascules consist of a long bridge span and a short counterweight section. Each bascule is supported by two pivot bearings, one either side. Two motors, one either side of the bridge, turn shafts passing through the centre of the pivot bearings. Further shafts take power to the rear of the counterweights, where there are pinions pressing against a rack mounted in the wall of the counterweight chamber, which drive the bascule. left, 200px, Underside of raised bascules, showing tipped up railings and yellow driveshaft 200px, Underside of bascules, showing bearings about which bascules rotate, and yellow drive shaft

References

External links

Bridge data
*
History of the bridge (in danish)

Bibliography