A Record-Breaking Bridge Opens in Norway

November 6, 1998

The Raftsund Bridge in the northern region of Norway was officially opened to traffic. This structure provides a road route across the Raftsundet strait between Austvågøya and Hinnøya, which are among the larger islands of the Lofoten archipelago in Norway’s Nordland county. 

The Raftsund Bridge measures 2,333 feet (711 meters) in length and has a main span of 978 feet (298 meters). At the time of its debut, this structure was the world’s longest concrete cantilevered bridge. Since 2007, it has been a part of European route E10. That route, which is a segment of the international E-road network within Europe, links several islands in the Lofoten archipelago with the Norwegian mainland.

Those who helped build the Raftsund Bridge included engineer Jan-Eirik Nilsskog, who served as quality coordinator for the project. Nilsskog has also played a major role in various other large-scale construction projects, including those for the Åkviksundet and Sundøy Bridges in Norway.

Photo Credit: Percita Dittmar (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)

For more information on the Raftsund Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raftsund_Bridge