Klarabergsviadukten (

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 Viaduct of Hill of St Clare" ) is a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to 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, which is usually somethi ...

and an

overpass An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...

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 ...

. Stretching over

Klara Sjö Klara may refer to: * Klara, a female given name, see Clara (given name) * Klara (radio), a classical-music radio station in Belgium * Klara (singer), birth name Klára Vytisková (born 1985), Czech singer * Klara (Stockholm), an area of central S ...

, it connects

Norrmalm Norrmalm is a city district in Stockholm, Sweden. History Norrmalm is part of the larger borough of Norrmalm (''Norrmalms stadsdelsområde''). The southern part of the district, Lower Norrmalm (''Nedre Norrmalm''), also known as City, const ...

Kungsholmen Kungsholmen is an island in Lake Mälaren in Sweden, part of central Stockholm, Sweden. It is situated north of Riddarfjärden and considered part of the historical province Uppland. Its area is with a perimeter of . The highest point is at S ...

. Where in English

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 ...

generally signify a bridge composed of several small spans, in Swedish it is also used for other bridges, generally railway or motorway bridges, of one span or more, spanning only land or, for example a street. The (not particularly small) spans of Klarabergsviadukten stretches over both a railway yard and

Klara sjö Klara may refer to: * Klara, a female given name, see Clara (given name) * Klara (radio), a classical-music radio station in Belgium * Klara (singer), birth name Klára Vytisková (born 1985), Czech singer * Klara (Stockholm), an area of central S ...

("Lake Klara"), and was originally intended to form part of a traffic route, ''Klarabergsleden'', connecting central Stockholm to the western suburbs, plans cancelled in 1974. Though not obviously a viaduct even in the Swedish sense, it still retains its name. First brought up in a proposal in 1928, a traffic route bridging the central railway yard in Stockholm and Klara sjö was planned to continue through the

Seraphim Hospital Serafimerlasarettet (Seraphim Hospital), popularly known as ''Serafen'', was the first modern hospital in Sweden. It was located in Kungsholmen in Stockholm and active from 1752 to 1980. The current building still houses the local emergency departm ...

area over

Norr Mälarstrand Norr Mälarstrand (Swedish for "Northern Shore of Mälaren") is a street onWhile Kungsholmen is one of the city districts of Stockholm, it is also one of the ridges (''malmarna'') surrounding the Stockholm Old Town and places on the ridges are said ...

along the southern shore of Kungsholmen to reach Drottningsholmsvägen, the road leaving Stockholm for the western suburbs. Over the years, the expected development of the traffic system in Stockholm made the planned route wider and wider, from the planned 18 metres in 1932 to 31 metres when the viaduct and bridge were finally built in 1961. Klarabergsviadukten is composed of several sections. It stretches 106 metres with a maximum span of 32 metres over Vasagatan; 136 metres over the railway yard with spans varying from 12 to 17 metres; and the bridge over Klara sjö having a maximum span of 41 metres. Because the bridge never was used as part of a motorway, its dimensions are out of proportion, and it is therefore partly being used for parking.

References

See also