Peberholm

Our series on Artificial Features takes us to the Oresund, a strait that separates the Danish Archipelago from the Scandinavian mainland.

The strait is 4km wide at its Northern end, 23km wide at its Southern end, and 14km wide in the narrows that separate the Danish capital, Copenhagen, from the Swedish city of Malmo. The desire of the Swedish government to build a fixed link that would connect Scandinavia to the Danish Islands and then to the European Mainland led both countries to discuss the feasibility of such a project as early as 1900. International events prevented the advancement of the project, but a formal convention was signed in 1991 to build this dual rail and highway link.

The combined 17km long bridge-tunnel link that links Copenhagen to Malmo was completed in 2000. It is a marvel of engineering. It consists in the western part, of a 4km long tunnel under the strait, and to the east, of an 8km bridge. These are joined by an elongated island that serves as a landing for the bridge and a ramp for the tunnel. As this new artificial land is just south of Saltholm (Salt Islet in Danish), the Danes named it "Peberholm", or Pepper Islet.