The Hardanger Bridge ( no, Hardangerbrua) is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

across the Eidfjorden branch off of the main

Hardangerfjorden The Hardangerfjord ( en, Hardanger Fjord) is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountain ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The bridge connects the municipalities of

Ullensvang Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd ...

and

Ulvik Ulvik is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality stretches from the Hardangerfjord to the mountains that reach above sea level. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ulvik. The villages of Osa and ...

. It replaced a ferry connection between

Bruravik Bruravik is a ferry quay in the municipality of Ulvik in Vestland county, Norway. There was formerly a ferry connection from Bruravik to Brimnes in the municipality of Eidfjord. The ferry quay was equipped with waiting rooms, benches, and restro ...

and

Brimnes Brimnes is a small village in the municipality of Eidfjord in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The settlement lies on the south side of the Eid Fjord, an inner branch of the Hardanger Fjord. The ferry quay at Brimnes formerly served the ferry ...

, and thereby shortens the driving time between

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. It is the

longest suspension bridge The world's longest suspension bridges are listed according to the length of their main span (i.e. the length of suspended roadway between the bridge's towers). The length of main span is the most common method of comparing the sizes of suspens ...

in Norway.

Construction

The bridge was approved for building by the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

on February 28, 2006, and construction began on February 26, 2009. While the bridge was engineered by the

Norwegian Public Roads Administration The Norwegian Public Roads Administration ( no, Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road netw ...

, the construction was done by

MT Højgaard MT Højgaard Group is one of the leading construction and civil engineering companies in the Nordic countries. The Group works with customers throughout Denmark and in multiple countries overseas. The company was founded in 2001, when Højgaard & ...

. The project had a budget of () and more than half of this will be paid by toll and saved ferry subsidies. The Administration is considering a different route over a future bridge as the main connection between East and West.Nikolaisen, Per-Ivar .
Hardangerbrua åpnet for 18 måneder siden. Nå vil Vegvesenet bygge ny
''

Teknisk Ukeblad ''Teknisk Ukeblad'' (''TU'', en, Technical Weekly Magazine) is a Norwegian engineering magazine. The magazine has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway. History and profile ''TU'' has appeared weekly since 13 April 1883 and was published by Ingeniørf ...

'', 22 January 2015. Accessed: 22 January 2015. Hardangerbrua 47604 D32

The bridge is long, with a main span of . The maximum deck height is and the towers reach above sea level. There are two driving lanes for cars with an speed limit, and a separate lane for pedestrians and cyclists. The deck height means that the largest

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

s cannot reach the inner Hardangerfjord any more. The traffic predicted for the bridge was estimated to be 2000 vehicles per day. The opening of the bridge took place on 17 August 2013. The main span is one of the longest suspension bridge spans in the world. It is also the longest tunnel to tunnel suspension bridge in the world. On the south end of the bridge, cars immediately enter the Bu Tunnel that goes under the village of Bu, while on the north side of the bridge, cars immediately enter the

Vallavik Tunnel The Vallavik Tunnel ( no, Vallaviktunnelen) is a road tunnel in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel begins on the north edge of the village of Eide in the municipality of Voss and runs to the southeast, ending at the small farm of Vallaviki in the ...

which includes a long segment to a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

inside the tunnel. At the roundabout, cars can take another long tunnel that leads to

or they can take a long tunnel to

Granvin Granvin is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it merged with Voss Municipality. The municipality was located in the traditional district of Hardanger. ...

Media gallery

File:Hardangerbrua juli 2010.JPG, The bridge under construction, July 2010 File:Cable saddle for Hardanger bridge.jpg, Tower Cable Saddles for the Hardanger Bridge File:Hardanger Bridge.jpg, The bridge towers under construction File:Constructing a bridge.jpg, Construction of the bridge File:Hardangerbroen 01.jpg, View while crossing File:Hardangerbroen 03.jpg, View looking up while crossing File:Die Nebel lichten sich, Morgenstimmung am Hardangerfjord. 02.jpg, View from a passing boat

References

External links

Official home page

Technical specifications brochure
(PDF)

he Hardanger Bridge, new travel destination {{authority control Suspension bridges in Norway Road bridges in Vestland Norwegian National Road 13 Norwegian National Road 7 Toll bridges in Norway Bridges completed in 2013

Construction

Media gallery

See also

References

External links