Västerbron

Västerbron is a road bridge in Stockholm. It connects across the districts of Södermalm and Kungsholmen on the island Långholmen and Riddarfjaerden.

Västerbron ( Western Bridge ) was born on November 20, 1935, after four years of planning and construction, opened to traffic. Since it was the second fixed connection in Stockholm North-South direction, according to the traffic junction Slussen. The bridge consists of two enormous sheet steel structures, each with a good 200 meter span. Overall Västerbron is about 600 meters long. She was the longest arch bridge construction in Sweden. Your biggest bridge headroom is 26 meters, it is therefore still a highest of Stockholm's bridges. Structural engineers were Ernst Nilsson and Salmon Kasarnowsky. Architects were Paul Hedqvist and his partner David Dahl. They followed in its main features the design of the 1st prize in the international competition of 1930, by the architects Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, Wilhelm Buening and the civil engineer Wilhelm Maelzer won. Hedquist and Dahl were also responsible for the Tranebergsbron, which opened a year earlier.

Until September 3, 1967, when Sweden moved on to the right-hand traffic, trams also drove over the bridge.

On August 8, 1993, the prototype of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen crashed on a flight demonstration in front of the eyes of thousands of spectators next to the bridge on Långholmen from. The pilot was able to escape with the ejection seat and nobody came seriously injured.

The annual Stockholm Marathon is run on the Västerbron, the slope of the apex of the bridge a challenge for the runner is out, but you have from there also an excellent view of the city.

Long a counterpart to Västerbron in the east of Stockholm was planned Österbron ( the eastern bridge ). You should, after a German proposal of 1948, tension as a huge suspension bridge, like a " Golden Gate Bridge " over the Djurgårdsbrunnsviken. The ideas, however, were never realized.

Pictures

Västerbron Inauguration 1935

Arch on Långholmen

Foundation on Långholmen

Literature and sources

• Stockholm Byggnader, Bokförlaget prism, 1977
• Stockholm utopisk en historia, Bokförlaget prism, 2004