Copenhagen has launched a public consultation on whether Langebro should still be able to open for ship traffic after a major renovation of the bridge.
DR reports that the City of Copenhagen is asking residents for their views before work begins. The hearing phase has now started, according to the city’s Climate, Environment and Technical Administration.
The administration has set out two scenarios. If the bridge is to remain openable, the renovation will take three years and cost 400 million kroner. If the opening function is removed, both the timeline and the price are halved.
According to DR, the bridge opens on average twice a week. Typically it is the same boat, which sails out again after having sailed in. The mechanism operated from the bridge tower still works, but must be replaced if opening is to continue.
What happens if the bridge stays closed
Henriette Hald Andersen, area chief at the Climate, Environment and Technical Administration, says the choice is a difficult one. As she notes, the decision cannot easily be reversed once it is made.
Per Hald Andersen, ending the opening function would mean that vessels taller than seven meters can no longer pass. That includes work platforms, large houseboats and sailing ships.
She adds that there are two widely different views on the question, which is part of why the political decision is hard. For that reason, the administration says it is important that all opinions and stakeholders are heard.
Aging machinery inside the bridge
DR describes the machine room as a workshop from around 1950. The heavy counterweights beneath the bridge leaves are corroded by rust. Those counterweights, on both the Amager and Zealand sides, must be replaced whether or not the bridge remains openable.
The electrical room under Langebro is listed. According to DR, new electronics would take up less space if politicians decide the bridge should still be able to open. A diagram in the electronics room shows how the leaves open and close.
One piece of equipment would be retired if the bridge no longer opens. A megaphone is currently used to call out to pedestrians and cyclists who step onto the bridge as it is about to open.
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Hald Andersen and the City of Copenhagen say they hope for a large number of consultation responses. The aim is to give politicians at City Hall the best possible basis for voting for or against continued opening of Langebro.
Langebro links Zealand and Amager across Copenhagen’s inner harbor and carries road, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Its machinery dates from the mid twentieth century, part of the city’s mid century architecture and infrastructure.
The politicians on Copenhagen City Council will make the final decision after the hearing phase. No date for that vote was given in DR’s report.
