Danish strait crossings

Abstract The bridging of the Danish straits, starting with the 1-km Lillebaelt Bridge opened in 1935 and culminating with the 18-km Storebaelt Link completed in 1998 and the 16-km Oresund Link, operational since 2000, represents major societal investments in road and rail infrastructure. The chapter describes the development of durability philosophy from the pre-World War II days, when structural concrete was considered virtually maintenance free, to the present, where the provision of corrosion-monitoring devices are written into the contract documents, and operation and maintenance manuals are prepared in the construction phase. It is emphasised that in addition to obvious issues like concrete mix design, execution. and inspection, structural lifetime performance is also determined by contract philosophy, quality assurance, and management approach. These aspects are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the experience from the Storebaelt Link and the Oresund Link, and implementation in the planned 19-km Femern Baelt Tunnel is outlined.