The Älvsborg Bridge () 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 ...

over

Göta älv The (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ice Lake to ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, connecting the island of

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus Fortress, Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by t ...

with the mainland. It was designed by Sven Olof Asplund, and inaugurated on 8 November 1966 by Swedish communication minister

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

. The total length of the bridge is 933 metres and the distance between the pylons ("main span") is 417 metres, while the clearance below the deck is 45 metres. This clearance is well below the international standard for the largest cruise ships (65 metres), so many such ships have to dock outside the bridge. The pylons are 107 metres tall, making the bridge one of Gothenburg's most prominent landmarks. It takes its name from the mediaeval

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

of Old Älvsborg, the ruins of which are located just a couple of hundred metres along the riverbank from the southern pylon. The bridge was painted green for the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi, Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from ...

, which Gothenburg hosted. Work started in 1993 and used about 36,000 litres of paint. The bridge acted as the finish line for the 2005–06 and 2014–2015

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvsborg Bridge Buildings and structures in Gothenburg Suspension bridges in Sweden Hisingen Bridges completed in 1967 Transport in Gothenburg 1967 establishments in Sweden 1960s establishments in Gothenburg and Bohus County