The Omsund Bridge ( no, Omsundbrua) is a

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 ...

that crosses the

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

Omsundet between the islands of

Frei Frei is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2008 when it was incorporated into Kristiansund Municipality. It was located between the Kvernesfjorden and Freifjo ...

and

Nordlandet Nordlandet is an island in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located just east of the city center of Kristiansund, and is one of the boroughs of the city. The island is home to Kristiansund Airport, Kv ...

Kristiansund Municipality Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

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 link is actually made up of two bridges: The main bridge crosses form Nordlandet to the

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

of Rensvikholmen and then the smaller Rensviksundet bridge completes the crossing to Frei. Prior to the merger of Kristiansund and

municipalities on 1 January 2008, the bridges crossed the border between the two municipalities. The original bridge was in use from 1940 until 1981. The second bridge is currently in use, and a third bridge has been proposed. The bridges lies just south of the

Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget Kristiansund Airport ( no, Kristiansund lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Kristiansund, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet and is the sole scheduled airport serving Nordmøre. The airport features a ...

Old bridge

A bridge crossing of Omsundet was initially proposed in 1875 by the town engineer in Kristiansund,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Christian Fredrik Bødtker, together with a bridge crossing of Nordsundet, but no bridges were built. The long original bridge is a steel

through arch bridge A through arch bridge, also known as a through-type arch bridge, is a bridge that is made from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete, in which the base of an arch structure is below the deck but the top rises above it. It can either be lo ...

. The Omsund Bridge was opened for traffic in April 1940, but with no

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the invasion of Norway. Local young men just tore down the barricades in the middle of the night. On 22 April 1940,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s tried to destroy the new bridge, but missed and managed only to kill the 15-year-old boy Ingolf Helge Vatten on a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

several hundred meters away on Frei, and set the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

on fire on Nordlandet. Remains of one of the bombs that caused the

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

are on display next to the

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

. In May that year, the new bridge was crucial during the

emergency evacuation Emergency evacuation is the urgent immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due t ...

caused by the burning of Kristiansund. This bridge to

made it possible to shorten the

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 ...

between Kristiansund and

Gjemnes Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship ...

on the mainland by , when a new road crossing Frei to Kvitnes on Flatsetøya was completed in 1951. The ferry was finally replaced with the

undersea The underwater environment is the region below the surface of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characterist ...

Freifjord Tunnel The Freifjord Tunnel ( no, Freifjordtunnelen) is a long undersea tunnel under the Freifjorden in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tunnel is part of the Norwegian National Road 70. The tunnel begins on the island of Frei in Kristiansund ...

in 1992 as part of the Kristiansund Mainland Connection. The old bridge was replaced in 1981, but it finally opened officially in a ceremony on 24 April 2005, 65 years late, and 24 years after it was replaced. It was then made accessible again for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s and

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

s, and protected as an important sample of Norwegian bridges built in the 1930s.

Current bridge

A new long

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

, with two lanes and a fenced

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. ''The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

for pedestrians and cyclists, was built right alongside of the old, narrow bridge in 1981. The bridge carries

Norwegian National Road 70 National Road 70 ( no, Riksvei 70) is a long national highway that runs from the town of Kristiansund in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county and the village of Oppdal in Oppdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The ro ...

, in that area named Freikollveien. The main spans horizontal curvature was unusually tight, for a concrete cantilever bridge of the time. In the New Year's Day Storm of 1992, the bridge was hit by a large

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

trawler, and

concrete degradation Concrete degradation may have many different causes. Concrete is mostly damaged by the corrosion of reinforcement bars due to the carbonatation of hardened cement paste or chloride attack under wet conditions. Chemical damages are caused by the ...

repair was performed on the bridge in 2013.

Future bridge

On 18 March 2010, preliminary plans for a new long replacement bridge were unveiled, as a part of a future

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

to Kristiansund.

References

{{reflist Bridges in Møre og Romsdal Bridges completed in 1981 Bridges completed in 1940 Buildings and structures in Kristiansund 1981 establishments in Norway 1940 establishments in Norway Norwegian National Road 70

Old bridge

Current bridge

Future bridge

See also

References