Tromsø Bridge

Tromsø Bridge Tromsøbrua
218px
Coordinates
Carries	862 (motor vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists)
Crosses	Tromsøysundet
Locale	Tromsø, Troms, Norway
Maintained by	Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever
Material	Reinforced concrete
Total length	1,036 metres (3,399 ft)
Width	8.3 metres (27 ft)
Longest span	80 metres (262 ft)
Number of spans	58
Clearance below	38 metres (125 ft)
History
Designer	Aas-Jakobsen, Erling Viksjø
Construction begin	1958
Opened	1960

The Tromsø Bridge (Norwegian: Tromsøbrua) is a cantilever road bridge in the city of Tromsø, in Troms county, Norway. It crosses the Tromsøysundet strait between Tromsdalen on the mainland and the island of Tromsøya. The 1,036-metre (3,399 ft) long bridge has 58 spans, of which the longest is 80 metres (260 ft) with a maximum clearance to the sea of 38 metres (125 ft).

File:Tromsø Bridge.jpg

File:Tromsøbrua suicide prevention fence 2008-06-28.jpg

Construction began in 1958 and the bridge was opened in 1960. At the time of its opening, it was the longest bridge in Northern Europe, with a length of 1,036 metres (3,399 ft). At a cost of NOK 14.5 million, the bridge replaced an inefficient ferry connection between the two sides of the strait, and it helped boost the growth and development of Tromsø. Due to severe congestion issues, the mainland road connection was later reinforced by the construction of the Tromsøysund Tunnel in the 1990s. Unlike the tunnel, located almost 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) further north, the Tromsø Bridge leads directly to the city centre of Tromsø.

The Tromsø Bridge was the first cantilever bridge to be built in Norway. Since then, many bridges of this type have been built. The bridge is one of the most important landmarks of Tromsø, and forms part of a motif composed of the Arctic Cathedral, the Tromsdalstinden mountain, and the Tromsø Bridge. In 2000, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage protected the bridge against modifications.