Inner Harbor Bridge

Infrastructure

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Photo: Troels Heien

This bridge saves pedestrians and cyclists up to 30 minutes when traveling from the Inner City to the Royal Opera House, art schools, historical military sites and distinctive natural surroundings of the Holmen district.

The Inner Harbour Bridge is an essential part of Copenhagen’s famed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. A 180-metre-long bridge that links the inner city with Christianshavn, it makes  the two tourist attractions of Nyhavn and Freetown Christiania new neighbours. It’s also part of the Christianshavn bicycle route that takes cyclists from the heart of the city to the green commons of Amager.

When the idea for the bridge was presented back in 2011, it was quickly nicknamed ‘the Kissing Bridge’ – as the first retractable bridge in Europe. It closes by moving two central spans horizontally towards each other to form a gentle kiss at the centre. However, problems riddled construction from the start, and ‘the Kissing Bridge’ became known for a long time as ‘the Missing Bridge’. But thankfully all that is history now.

Initial estimates predicted that between 3,000 and 7,000 cyclists would cross the bridge daily, but with numbers quickly surpassing 16,000, Inderhavnsbroen has far exceeded expectations and become an instant success.

It not only saves cyclists valuable time on their morning commutes, but public viewing platforms also provide pedestrians with unbeatable views of the magnificent architecture and bustling life of the inner harbour.

Area

Copenhagen, Inner City

Client

Copenhagen Municipality

Architect

Studio Bednarski Limited
DFA | Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes PARIS WIEN

Engineer

Flint & Neill Limited
Hardesty & Hanover International LLC
WTM Engineers International
COWI

Contractor

E. Pihl & Søn A/S

Built

2016