The Sortland Bridge ( no, Sortlandsbrua) is a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

road 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

Sortlandssundet Sortlandsundet or Sortlandssundet ( en, Sortland Sound''Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse'' no. 212. 1983. Trondheim: Norges Geologiske Undersokelse, p. 6.) is a strait or sound in Sortland Municipality in Nordland county, Norway Norway ...

strait between the village of Strand on Hinnøya island and the town of Sortland on Langøya island. It is located within Sortland Municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

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 is long, the main span is , and the maximum clearance to the sea is . The bridge has 21 spans.. Retrieved 2012-07-29. The Sortland Bridge was opened in 1975. It was one of four bridges that were built in the 1970s to connect the islands of

Vesterålen Vesterålen is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of Lofoten and west of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county. Sortland is the largest town, situated near the center of the archipel ...

to each other. The other bridges that were built during that period are the Hadsel Bridge, Andøy Bridge and

Kvalsaukan Bridge The Kvalsaukan Bridge ( no, Kvalsaukan bru) is a bridge that crosses the Hognfjorden in Sortland Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian County Road 82 between the Sortland (town), town of Sortland and the neighboring ...

. Together with the

Tjeldsund Bridge The Tjeldsund Bridge ( no, Tjeldsundbrua) is a suspension road bridge that crosses the Tjeldsundet strait between the mainland and the island of Hinnøya in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The bridge is long, the main span is , and the maximum ...

near

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogaland, ...

, these bridges connect the islands of Vesterålen to the mainland. The Sortland Bridge was a toll bridge for many years after its opening. Before the bridge was built, a ferry carried passengers across the strait. The ferry crossing was one of the busiest in Norway.

References

Sortland Bridges completed in 1975 Road bridges in Nordland Former toll bridges in Norway 1975 establishments in Norway {{Norway-bridge-stub

See also

References