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An island country

The bottleneck at the Great Belt is a chapter in itself and familiar to all Danes who remember the years before 1998. Even though ten large, modern, state-owned vehicle or railway ferries, the largest with three decks and a capacity of up to 500 cars, and a competing private shipping company with five ferries provided a shuttle service for the one-hour crossing, the capacity was inadequate at peak times.

Building a bridge across the 18 kilometre wide international navigation passage had been discussed since the mid 19th century and many grand projects had been presented. For decades, analyses were carried out and Great Belt solutions were discussed in the Danish Parliament. In 1987, the Great Belt Fixed Link Act was finally passed by Parliament. Using state-guaranteed loans, a state-owned limited company was entrusted with building a 6,611 metre long low bridge (18 metres clear height above sea level) with motorway and double-track railway between Funen and the small half-way island of Sprogø, where road and rail divide for the remaining stretch to Zealand.

The railway runs through a tunnel 8,024 metres long, while the motorway is carried on a fantastic 6,790 metre long suspension bridge (67 metres clear height above sea level) with a free span of 1,624 metres. The low bridge was completed in 1993, the tunnel in 1997 and the suspension bridge opened to traffic in 1998.

Full text: The National Bottleneck

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