Oresund Bridge is the direct link between the Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Sweden by car and by train. The bridge was opened in 2000: 8 km long out of which 4 km runs through a tunnel through the artificially created island called Peberholm. The bridge gives direct access between Copenhagen the capital city of Denmark and Malmö the third largest city in Sweden.
The bridge offers a pleasant journey between the two countries in the twenty-first century which waged wars against one another in the medieval days. The bridge is also a tribute to peaceful times and the benefits two countries can reap with joint ventures — deepening the contacts for mutual progress and prosperity in the age of interdependence for goods and services.
In 2018, about 7.5 million cars, cars with trailers, campervans, coaches, minibuses, lorries, trucks and vans passed through the bridge. Vehicle owners have to pay the toll bridge, and the income for the investment is generated with road users. According to a press note on 26 April 2019, “Fewer vehicles used the Øresund Bridge in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year – the weak Swedish krona and a late Easter being the two main reasons. In overall terms, road traffic declined by 2 per cent but freight and coach traffic increased.”
Oresund Bridge is hailed as the architectural marvel in Europe as one of the longest cables supported bridges with road and rail.
PEBERHOLM: An ecosystem
Peberholm is an artificial island created in the Oresund Strait in the North Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, a circle of rock was laid out and filled with materials of the seabed that were dredged while constructing the bridge, to have fixed point for the bridge and for having the tunnel.
Since the artificially-created island came into existence, the original ecosystem of the island changed from being rock and bare to sparse growth of green and with the visits of birds.
Located next to the island called Saltholm, Peberholm is untouched since its creation: without landscaping, without seeding and without planting. Today, Peberholm has animal and plant species. Species found on the island are: Adder’s Tongue, Ceutorhynchus Resedae, Little Bedstraw, Green Toad, Blue-Headed Wagtail, and Hobo Spider.
Oresund is spelt with Ø in Danish and Ö in Swedish.