Friday October 3. 1997 became a historical
day for Osterøy. The Osterøy-bridge
between Kvisti at Osterøy and Herland by
Bergen were officially opened by minister
Sissel Rønbeck. This opening took place
28 years after the first plans about a
connection without a ferry between the
island and the Bergen area were presented.
The location of the bridge was a bitter
strive between the islanders. A lot of the
islanders worked in Åsane outside Bergen and lived at Valestrand area at Osterøy,
and they have to travel much longer than before. There were also arguments
about having a bridge or not.
The location of the bridge was a battle
until the parliament in 1993 accepted
the location at Kvisti. Osterøybridge has
a major length of 595 metres, and the
tower stretches itself 121,5 metres
above the sea. The bridge is financed
about fifty per cent by the government
and fifty per cent by the users of the
bridge. The roads to the bridge are
meant to be fixed. The first step was
taken when Tiråstunnellen, a tunnel,
was opened a few months later. The
map "Facts of Osterøy" shows where
the main road will be located. This road is also meant to be financed by taxes on
the drivers. The total price of the roads are calculated to be about 300 million NOK.
This is meant to be finished in 3 years. The new road is planed to start at April
2000. The bridge have a little curiosty, when its a little breeze of wind will the
bridge swinging. A little movie on 9 sec. will show you this very clearly.
Click here if you want to see the swinging bridge!
