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Copenhagen's 'Kissing Bridge' completed

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Copenhagen's 'Kissing Bridge' completed
Photo: Mathias Løvgreen Bojesen/Scanpix

Construction of the bridge Inderhavnsbro for cyclists and pedestrians was completed this week after suffering delays for over two years.

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The 180-metre long Inderhavnsbro (Inner Harbour Bridge) connecting Copenhagen’s Nyhavn and Christianshavn districts was installed this week after a long series of delays and setbacks.

The bridge is intended to make commuting easier for the tens of thousands of Copenhageners who choose to hop on a bike to get to work instead of a car, and is one of a series of similar crossings planned by the City of Copenhagen over the coming years.

See also: Copenhagen to get even better for cyclists

The project was originally planned to be complete by February 2013, but a number of problems kept pushing the deadline back.

First, the initial financial backer for the project went bankrupt, and it later turned out that the engineers had made a severe calculation error which meant that the two sides of the bridge would not connect properly, forcing the project to start over from scratch.

This was followed by a number of similar engineering mishaps that delayed the bridge by over two years.

On Monday however, the final part of the bridge’s construction – fitting the middle segment into place – was completed. See a timelapse video of the installation below (story continues after video).

 
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Tjek lige hvor flot et skue det var, da Inderhavnsbroens to store stålfag endelig blev monteret. De mange timers arbejde...

Posted by Københavns Kommune on Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Anders Møller, one of the City of Copenhagen's project managers, was relieved at that it had gone so well.

“When you consider all the errors, bankruptcies and problems that we have had, everything went really well and according to plan when the bridge was assembled yesterday [Monday, ed.]”, Møller told DR.

See also: Copenhagen rides to the top of the bicycling world

The bridge has not officially opened yet however; it now needs to undergo testing to ensure that it will be able to handle the thousands of cyclists and pedestrians expected to cross it daily.

Despite the setbacks, Møller anticipates that the bridge will be a welcome change for many of Copenhagen’s pedestrians and cyclists who currently commute to and from work via Knippelsbroen, the nearby traffic-heavy bridge primarily intended for cars.

“There are currently some 40,000 cyclists crossing Knippelsbro every day, but with the opening of Inderhavnsbroen many cyclists are expected to take this new route between the districts,” Møller said.

Inderhavnsbroen has already been given two nicknames among Copenhageners. It is called ‘The Kissing Bridge’ (Kyssebroen) by some due to the way the flowing bridge looks like two tongues meeting and its proximity to Christiania has also earned it a slightly less flattering name: Den Skæve Hashbro, a double entendre that means both 'The Crooked Hash Bridge' and 'The Stoned Hash Bridge'. 

Later this month, Copenhagen's hyped 'Circle Bridge' is also scheduled to open to bike and pedestrian traffic. 

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