The Lauttasaari bridge (Finnish: Lauttasaaren silta, Swedish: Drumsö bro) is a bridge in Helsinki, Finland, over the Lauttasaarensalmi strait. The bridge connects the island of Lauttasaari to mainland Helsinki. The mainland end is in Salmisaari in the Ruoholahti district, with the Porkkalankatu street leading to the city centre. In Lauttasaari, the street Lauttasaarentie leads west from the bridge.
The current bridge was built in late December 1969.[1] The bridge is 317 metres long and 23.5 metres wide, made of reinforced concrete, and its span is 56.6 metres.[2]
The bridge is an openable bascule bridge, but nowadays it is only opened on rare exceptional occasions. Formerly it used to be opened regularly to allow large cargo ships to transport coal to the pier of the Salmisaari power plant underneath it.[1] Nowadays the coal harbour of the plant has been moved to the south of the bridge, where the coal is transported to a larger storage space underneath the plant, built in 2004, via an underground tunnel.[3]
The bridge has also become a popular spot for fishing Baltic herring.[4]
- ^ a b Kauko Mustonen, Kalevi Pykälä: Lauttasaari : helmi Helsingin kruunussa, pp. 48–52. Lauttasaaren kustannus, 1976.
- ^ Otavan iso Fokus, volume 8, p. 4780, taulukko Suomen huomattavimpia siltoja. Otava, 1974. ISBN 951-1-02041-2.
- ^ Salmisaaren maanalainen hiilivarasto, Helsingin Energia. Accessed on 3 September 2011.
- ^ Kalastusopas Helsingin merialueelle, Exercise and sports bureau of the city of Helsinki. Accessed on 3 September 2011.