Case Study On Oresund Bridge Construction Essay

Oresund Bridge is constructed across the Oresund strait; it is the longest rail and road bridge in the whole of Europe. [1] It connects two metropolitan areas namely Danish capital Copenhagen and City of Malmo in Sweden. . The international European route E20 runs across the bridge and through the tunnel. This Bridge acts as a link between Main land Europe and the rest of the Scandinavia.

The main objective of this paper is to identify the factors which influence estimating, maintenance, safety and construction techniques of the bridge and to recommend improvements that can help in the further growth and popularity of the bridge. Identify factors that negatively affect the Oresund Bridge. Develop a method to help the users who travel through the longest road and rail Bridge with ease and level of comfort. Analyze the results and propose a model solution to improve the performance. The primary factors which affect the construction of the bridge are discussed in detail and some of the recommendations are also included. Developing a safety analysis of the safety performance factors will help to prevent accidents by anticipating and mitigating hazards that occur frequently. The historical factors will be discussed about the past construction by the engineers and architects and some statistics are provided to show the evolution of the Bridge and how it affected the construction industry in past, On the economical front the methods which were used to reduce the cost of the project and current market estimation about the construction techniques are also discussed. The organizational factor, which is considered to be more significant discusses about the relationship of bridge and the places which it is connected to and the cityscape. Its behavior and contribution to the people and place, representativeness, terms and policies to use the bridge will be thoroughly analyzed. The procedural factors will be discussed which include provision of safety and equipment, and maintenance of the bridge.

The geographical location of Oresund region is very favorable for transporting goods between Scandinavia and Baltic countries, however earlier the main bottle neck in realizing this is the infrastructure. The Oresund Bridge provided a solution for this as the completion of the bridge in 2000 has improved the Infrastructure. In fact the modern infrastructure is one of the main positive aspects of the Oresund Region. The modern motorway and railway around the two cities set a high standard which connects Copenhagen and Malmo. Access to Copenhagen airport and Malmo airport has improved. The merger of Copenhagen port and Malmo has resulted in formation of a company which is the largest importing port of cars in Nordic region [2]. All the four transportation systems have been well planned in the Oresund Region when compared to similar systems in Europe. When the fixed link across Fuhrman belt is completed around 2018 – 2020, it will connect 10 million people in Southern Scandinavia and Northern Germany in that this new traffic lanes will link the Oresund Region with Hamburg. This may create new opportunities in the future for manipulating the synergies that arise from bringing together the two capitals. [2]

Considering the strengths of the Oresund Region which are network platforms for marketing and research and production across borders and institutional drawbacks. For six different platforms Oresund region is a parasol organization which reflects the region’s strength: Medicon Valley Academy, Oresund IT, Oresund Food Network, Oresund Environment Academy, Oresund Design, and Oresund Logistics. The Oresund University is yet another network in which 12 universities and institutions of higher education in the region work together to strengthen research and education in the Oresund Region. Between Scandinavia and Europe Network platforms. The bridge in a global context measured by scientific output, Copenhagen – Malmo – Lund ranks 5th in Europe. Measured by overall life quality, the Oresund Region also scores highly – 8th after cities in Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Measured by population, the region ranks 23rd.Measured in economic terms, the region ranks 10th alongside cities like Milan, Hamburg, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Stuttgart. [2]

Several factors influenced the development of the project which include, environmental, economic and political. For example by the end of the old war, and the start of globalization has forced the two countries to look for ways of improving the economy of the region, also the Sweden’s approach to be a part of the European Union has been the main driving factors.

Railway tracks and motorway from Fosie – Lernacken: 10 km of new double tracked railway (Oresundsbanan). The railway runs parallel with the motorway in a 90m wide corridor. The first stop on the route is Malmo Syd or Svagertorp.The motorway runs from Fosieby, where it connects the outer ring road to the toll station at Lernacken. This section includes two major interchanges and several smaller overpasses. At Lernacken the Traffic Centre and the toll station for vehicles and are situated. The Traffic Centre is responsible for operating the toll station, monitoring the motorway traffic and monitoring the technical systems. The toll station has got 11 lanes in each direction with a capacity of 200 vehicles an hour/lane and 10 toll booths in each direction. [5]

The Oresund Bridge has a profound effect on the geographical, economic and culture of the people in this Scandinavian region. The completion of the project has enabled the economic development of the region and also paved a path for Sweden to be a part of the European Union. A new avenue for trade has been opened and also enabled the industries in European main land to tap the rich human resources in this region. The project has provided the local population with employment and also helped the local industry such as material providers which include steel, concrete etc.It also improved the tourism of the place which happens to be the main sources of economy. In the course of this paper we discussed the advantages of cable stayed process over suspension type of bridges in shallow type water. We also discussed the effects on the environment and measures taken to preserve it. We also gave details of the cost incurred for the completion of the project and as a personal opinion a better planning could have reduced the costs further. This is supported by the data provided where the original estimates differed from actual costs by huge amounts.

It is common knowledge that the traffic on the roads and bridges increases with time and seen from the graph there is a 17% increase in the traffic over Oresund Bridge in 1st 6months. This is quite normal, and the rate may not sustain, but even then there can be expected that there will be a considerable increase in the traffic in coming future, if not 17% at least 10%, in such case the Oresund bridge with its two lanes for the in either direction will reach its capacity in a decade time. This demands to look for ways to increase the lanes.

The carriageway does not reach to the edge of the truss. It would be possible to cast a wider deck element with the possibility of adding an extra lane in either direction. This would bring the carriageway closer to the edge of the bridge and add a significant amount of dead load to the structure. Another option would be to hang new truss elements off the side of the existing deck. This would seem to be a more complex procedure than the first one suggested, but could add more than one lane in either direction. All of these modifications would have effects on the loading of the bridge and strengthening works could well be required for both the cables and the piers.