Askoy Bridge

The Askoy Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the fjord of Byfjorden between the city of Bergen and Askoy in Hordaland County, Norway. The details of Askoy Bridge are explained in world tour guides below. The bridge was opened in December 1992 and it has the longest bridge span in Norway. The bridge is 1057 metres long, with a main span of 850 metres. The maximum clearance to the sea is 62 metres. In total, the bridge has 7 spans, and was a toll bridge until November 18, 2006.

The plans for a bridge between Askoy andBergen peninsula date back to the 1960s. The project was first brought up for the Askoy municipality council in 1960, and the final construction plans were approved in 1966. In 1974, the turnpike company Askoybrua AS was founded. In 1977, the Hordaland county council endorsed the bridge project, including it in the plans for a motorway to outer Laksevag. A toll for the construction of the bridge was introduced on the ferries between Askoy and Bergen in 1983.

The decision to build the Askoy Bridge was voted through the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, on December 9, 1987. The decision was made unanimously, although the Socialist Left Party and the Progress Party demanded that there would be no further exaction of toll money off the bridge. The manufacturing contract for the suspender cables for the bridge was given to the German company Thyssen AG.

The construction of the Askoy Bridge commenced April 24, 1989. The northern and southern towers were done in August and December respectively on that year. The first suspender cable was installed in July 1991, followed by a temporary catwalk between the bridge towers. Finally, in March 1992, the first prefabricated section of the bridge deck was lifted into position. As the bridge was nearing completion, it became apparent that an earlier opening than the foreseen April 1993 was possible and the opening date of the bridge was advanced to December 1992.

Ultimately the Askoy Bridge was opened on December 12, 1992, in presence of Minister of Transport and Communications Kjell Opseth and a thousand spectators. At the time of opening, the Askoy Bridge was the largest suspension bridge in the Nordic countries, although it has since been passed by the Hoga Kusten Bridge in Sweden and the Great Belt Fixed Link, a Danish bridge. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration finally set the toll to 100 NOK for automobiles against the wishes of the municipality council of Askoy which had primarily decided upon a toll of 87 NOK.