Essingebron (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: "The Essinge Bridge") are two parallel bridges in central

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, inaugurated August 21, 1966, and September 3, 1967. Forming a section of the

Essingeleden Essingeleden is a motorway that goes from Solna to Stockholm, Sweden, crossing the westmost parts of central Stockholm, by going over Kungsholmen, Lilla Essingen, and Stora Essingen. Essingeleden has three bridges – Fredhällsbron (270 m), Essin ...

motorway they connect the two islands Stora Essingen and

Lilla Essingen Lilla Essingen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located on Lake Mälaren next to the larger neighbouring island of Stora Essingen. Both Essingen Islands (''Essingeöarna'') are mainly residential areas, the smaller densely p ...

and are the most heavily trafficked bridges in Sweden. The current bridges replaced a bridge called Stora Essingebron ("The Larger Essinge Bridge") inaugurated on May 10, 1965, as the motorway being built then resulted in a number of bridges connecting to Stora Essingen and the name was considered ambiguous. (See also

Mariebergsbron Mariebergsbron (Swedish: "The Marieberg Bridge") is a bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Formerly known as Lilla Essingebron, it connects the islands Kungsholmen to Lilla Essingen. The current name is due to the vicinity to the city district Ma ...

). The motorway bridges are paralleled by a bridge for local use, Gamla Essinge Broväg ("Old Essinge Bridge road"). The increasing number of summer residences built on Stora Essingen during the 18th century were during the early 20th century gradually transformed into permanent residences. Therefore, a first temporary ''Stora Essingebron'' was built in 1917 using the rafts of the X-shaped

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 ...

once in service on the ice of Lake Riddarfjärden during winters. Across the central seaway, a hand-pulled

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

connected the two pathways until replaced by a flap in 1921. Finally in 1927 the City Council decided on building a permanent bridge, inaugurated the following year. The central part of the steel construction spanned the 185 metres between the islands using five 40 metres long spans, and was continuous on both sides with

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s giving the entire bridge a total length of 339 metres. It was 7,6 metres wide with a 5,2 metres wide roadway, and offered an horizontal clearance of 13 metres. A severe bus accident in 1948 when a bus crashed through a railings of the bridge killing 11, lead to an examination of the bridge in 1951, followed by reinforcement by draw barriers and the amelioration of the

pile foundation A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element ...

. In contrast to many of the other bridges in Stockholm, the route passing over the bridge was a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

, and the bridge could therefore handle the increasing post-WW2 traffic load. However, with the construction of the

motorway, the old bridge had to be scrapped and replaced by a new, inaugurated in 1966. Gamla Essinge Broväg is 470 metres long; 11 metres wide with an 8 metres roadway; and offers a horizontal clearance of 16 metres between the major 100 metres wide span. October 14, 2005, the pontoon crane 'Lodbrok' collided with the bridge, causing a major traffic jam.

References

External links

Stockholmskällan
- a photo from 1928 of Stora Essingebron. {{coord, 59, 19, 25, N, 17, 59, 56, E, type:landmark, display=title Bridges in Stockholm Bridges completed in 1966 Bridges completed in 1967