Pålsundsbron ( Swedish: "The Pole Sound/Strait Bridge") is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

in central

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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 ...

. Stretching over the small water course Pålsundet, the bridge connects the major island

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

to the minor island

Långholmen Långholmen is an island between two other islands, Södermalm and Kungsholmen, in central Stockholm, Sweden. This island can be reached via two bridges; Pålsundsbron in the east and Långholmsbron in the west. Långholmen is a popular sp ...

. The name ''Pålsundet'', on old maps called ''Påhl Sundet'', or ''Pålsund'', refers to the poles blocking the canal from ships trying to reach central Stockholm without paying the required duty. Also, an iron chain served the same purpose of forcing the ships pay a visit to the

custom house A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

(''Winter Tullen'') demolished during the 1930s. The bridge was known as Mälarvarvsbron ("The

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

Shipyard Bridge") or more locally ''Varvsbron'' until 1948 when it received its present name. The original bridge on this location, after Långholmsbron the second bridge stretching over Pålsundet, was built in 1907 as a wooden

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

. It was 3.8 metres in width, with a total length of 56 metres stretching over eight 7 metres long spans, of which the central span was a hand-driven flip

bascule A bascule is a counterbalanced structure (i.e. a lever) having one end that rises as the other lowers. It may also refer to: * Bascule bridge, a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span in providing clearance for b ...

extending the horizontal clearance of 3.7 metres. In 1947, the wooden bridge was replaced by a steel

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

stretching 52.5 metres in a single span over the sound, with a width of 4.5 metres. Its steel arches were used five years earlier for the casting of the concrete arch of

Kungsbron Kungsbron ( Swedish: "King's Bridge") is a double bridge in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching over Klara Sjö, it connects Norrmalm to Kungsholmen. History In 1881, an old wooden bridge spanning Klara sjö ("Lake Klara") was replaced by a ...

References

See also