Bergsøysund Bridge

Bergsøysund Bridge Bergsøysundbrua
View of the Bergsøysund Bridge
Coordinates	62°59′11″N 7°52′25″E / 62.98639°N 7.87361°E / 62.98639; 7.87361Coordinates: 62°59′11″N 7°52′25″E / 62.98639°N 7.87361°E / 62.98639; 7.87361
Carries	E39
Crosses	Bergsøysundet
Locale	Gjemnes/Tingvoll, Norway
Characteristics
Design	Pontoon Bridge
Total length	931 metres (3,054 ft)
Longest span	106 metres (348 ft)
No. of spans	13
Clearance below	6 metres (20 ft)
History
Opened	1992

The Bergsøysund Bridge (Norwegian: Bergsøysundbrua) is a pontoon bridge that crosses the Bergsøysundet strait between the islands of Aspøya (in Tingvoll) and Bergsøya (in Gjemnes) in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The bridge is 931 metres (3,054 ft) long, the longest span is 106 metres (348 ft), and the maximum clearance to the sea is 6 metres (20 ft). The bridge has 13 spans.

Bergsøysund Bridge was opened in 1992. It is part of the Krifast system, the town of Kristiansund's road connection to the mainland. The bridge cost 277.4 million kr.

Floating bridge/pontoon bridge construction has a long history in military and civilian applications on every continent except Antarctica. According to the engineers who designed this bridge, it was designed using recent American technology for floating bridges, combined with Norwegian technology for offshore platforms. The bridge designers researched other bridges in the world and traveled to the state of Washington in the United States to visit the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge and the Hood Canal Bridge—two floating bridges. The continuous floating concrete structure used in the Washington bridges was ultimately ruled out in favor of the discrete floating concrete pier design. This design afforded: 1) an elevated roadway that reduced traffic hazards in storms, 2) a reduction in corrosion of the bridge deck, and 3) improved passage of water beneath the bridge thereby supporting native species.