oresund bridge project management case study

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Project: Öresund Bridge

Description:.

The Oresund Bridge, linking the cities of Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. is a 16 kilometer (10 mile) combined rail and road bridge-tunnel spanning the Oresund strait.

Characteristics and Setting:

Project Type: Bridge Project Mode: Highway Average Annual Daily Traffic: 18,500 Length (mi): 4.87

Economic Distress: 0.00 Population Density (ppl/sq mi): 66 Population Growth Rate (%): 0.00

Employment Growth Rate (%): 0.00 Market Size: 0 Airport Travel Distance: Topography: 1

Region: International State: Denmark, Sweden County: N/A

City: N/A Urban/Class Level: Metro Local Area: N/A

Impact Area: Öresund Region Transportation System: Highway GIS Lat/Long: 55.581322 / 12.800768

Initial Study Date: 1994 Post Constr. Study Date: 2004

Constr. Start Date: 1994 Constr. End Date: 2000

Months Duration: N/A

Project Year of Expenditure (YOE): 2000 Planned Cost (YOE $): N/A

Actual Cost (YOE $): 2,147,483,647 Actual Cost (curr $): 7,809,733,699

Pre/Post Conditions:

NOTE: All pre/post dollar values are in 2013$

Select a region to display the conditions for that region:

Öresund Region Impacts

NOTE: All impact dollar values are in 2013$

Case Location:

Narrative Title

1.0 Synopsis

The Öresund Bridge, linking the cities of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmo, Sweden, is a 16-kilometer (10 mile) combined rail and road bridge-tunnel spanning the Öresund strait. The bridge, completed in 2000, has provided a critical link between the two countries and their economies by drastically reducing the travel time from one hour (by ferry) to 10 minutes (by car or train). This resulted in the integration of the economies on both sides of the Öresund Region. Commuting between Copenhagen and Malmo has increased ten-fold since the bridge was built, creating a single labor market for the region. High unemployment on the Swedish side helped fill Copenhagen’s labor shortage. Lower land and labor costs on the Swedish side have drawn investment by multinational companies from Copenhagen. The project is responsible for an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 jobs in the region.   

2.0 Background

2.1 Location & Transportation Connections

The Öresund Region represents the combined area of Scania in Southern Sweden and Eastern Denmark (including Greater Copenhagen). Copenhagen is located on Zealand, an island in Denmark, while Scania is on the southernmost tip of Sweden. Stockholm is 600 km to the northeast of the region and Gothenberg 270 km to the northwest. The region is connected by road and rail to mainland Europe through the Great Belt Bridge, which connects the island of Zealand to the peninsula of Jutland. This peninsula abuts Germany, where the closest large city is Hamburg. There is also a ferry connection from southern Zealand to Fehmarn, Germany. Other international connections are provided by Copenhagen Airport, which is the busiest in Scandanavia. 

2.2 Community Character & Project Context

The Öresund Region’s population of 3.5 million makes it the largest metropolitan area in Scandinavia. A majority of this population resides in Copenhagen (the largest city in Denmark) and Malmo (the third largest city in Sweden, behind Stockholm and Gothenberg). These two cities are at the termini of the Öresund Bridge. The economies of both sides of the bridge have traditionally been quite different. Copenhagen has been a center for professional services (e.g. finance and consulting), while the Malmo side has been a manufacturing and logistics center. Before the Öresund Bridge was built, Copenhagen struggled with a tight labor force and high costs of doing business. Conversely, the Malmo area had high unemployment as it slowly adapted to a post-industrial economy. The opening of the bridge allowed for the exploitation of the complementary conditions in both countries to alleviate these problems. Both regions also benefit from the high concentration of universities, which have spurred growth in knowledge-based industries.

3.0 Project Description & Motives

Before the Öresund Bridge, the Öresund Region existed in name only. The distance between Denmark and Sweden at the Öresund Strait is 16 km via an hour-long ferry ride. Officials determined that it would be valuable to link the regions by providing a much shorter and easier commute between the countries, providing opportunities for local development.  Improvements to long distance travel times were of secondary concern.  As major population and employment centers, Copenhagen and Malmo provided the most obvious points for connection. The decision to build the bridge was made in 1992 in Denmark and finalized in Sweden in 1994. Construction began in 1995 and ended in 2000, meeting its expected cost of 30 billion Danish kronas ($4 billion based on 2000 exchange rate).

The Öresund Bridge was the largest European bi-national project since the Channel Tunnel connecting France and Britain.  It is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. To prevent interference with airplanes at Copenhagen Airport, an artificial island was built in the middle of the strait where the bridge now turns into a tunnel (four km in length). It was built and is owned and operated by a private company (Öresundsbro Konsortiet) that was formed through the cooperation of Denmark and Sweden with loans backed by the governments of both countries.  These loans are being retired with toll revenues, which, at over $50 per car one-way, makes it one of the most expensive bridges in the world.  The debt is expected be retired in 30 years.  

4.0 Project Impacts

4.1 Transportation Impacts

The opening of the bridge reduced the travel time across the strait from one hour by ferry to 10 minutes via the bridge. Ferries still operate, but travelers now have the option of driving or taking the trains, which run every 20 minutes in the daytime. In 2007, 36 million people (12 million by ferry, 10 million by train, and 14 million by car) crossed the Öresund Strait, up from 20 million before the bridge opened. The number of daily commuters grew from 2,000 to 20,000 per day in 2009. Most of the bridge’s users live in Sweden, representing 70% of total traffic and 90% of commuter traffic on the bridge. Residents on the Swedish side have started to use Copenhagen Airport, which is now only a 35-minute drive from Malmo. Previously, residents would rely on regional service to go through Stockholm in order to fly long distances. Copenhagen Airport provides faster, direct service to more destinations, providing more convenience for shippers and passengers. There are new ring roads in Copenhagen and Malmo to accommodate the increase in local traffic.

The improved access from the bridge also led to other infrastructure investments in the region. A bridge will be built from southern Zealand to Fehmarn, Germany, where there is currently a ferry route. This bridge will provide faster connections from the Öresund Region to mainland Europe and increase traffic on the Öresund Bridge. A new railway from Malmo to Lund is being built, as are additional transit lines in Copenhagen.

A possible problem in the future will be congestion on the Öresund Bridge. One option for alleviating this congestion is to build a tunnel between Helsingør and Helsingborg, which is a narrower strait between Sweden and Denmark, north of the Öresund Bridge. 

4.2 Demographic, Economic & Land Use Impacts

The Öresund Bridge caused a shift in living and commuting patterns in the region. The Danish side had a shortage of labor, while the Swedish side had high unemployment and low housing costs. The Swedish side had a more difficult time adjusting to post-industrialization in the 1990s because of its reliance on manufacturing. With the opening of the bridge, Danes moved to Sweden to take advantage of lower house prices and Swedes took jobs in Denmark. This resulted in an increase in property values on the Swedish side—prices in the Malmo area outpaced those in the rest of Sweden by nearly 20% from 1999-2006.  The price differential between Malmo and Copenhagen, however, remains significant. The unemployment levels that were disparate between sides (3.6% on Danish side and 5.6% on Swedish side in 2000) have begun to converge (2.5% on Danish side and 3% on Swedish side in 2007), which is indicative of the existence of one labor market. Orestad, a new urban area, is an active business and residential neighborhood in Copenhagen that has grown rapidly since completion of the bridge. The new transit lines will serve this area as well as the airport and center city.

The increased integration between Copenhagen and Malmo has created a critical mass attractive for large-scale investments. While Stockholm was previously the largest urban area in Scandinavia, the Öresund Region has surpassed it in terms of population. This has allowed for the region to progress in terms of industry. The Swedish side had some IT operations as well as warehousing and logistics, both of which increased after the bridge opened. Denmark has gained by using the cheaper land that is more accessible in Sweden. As a result, companies will locate their offices in Copenhagen but have storage and distribution in Malmo. Thus, companies that have been limited in expansion capability in Copenhagen can move part of their operations to the other side to improve efficiency and allow for expansion.

The Öresund Region has seen significant gains in logistics activity since the bridge. The Malmo and Copenhagen ports merged in anticipation of the bridge’s opening. This has helped the region reinforce its place as a logistics hub for surrounding countries and has made it competitive with other regional hubs providing service to multiple countries. The Copenhagen side handles more containers while the Malmo side is a hub for cars coming from the U.S. and Far East. The low cost of land on the Swedish side is appealing for locating large distribution facilities. In addition to distribution, there are other value-added activities performed. Toyota now uses the port for its main distribution hub to Northern Europe. 

Perhaps the most important aspect of the regional integration has been the cooperation between the local universities in both countries. Öresund University is made up of 12 schools in the region, with 150,000 students and 14,000 faculty and researchers. This is an institutional impact of the bridge that has further developed economic and land-use impacts. The unification between the schools occurred before the bridge was built, but since has founded several organizations that facilitate interaction between research and business. The Öresund Science Region, which was founded by Öresund University in 2001, works in fields such as environmental technology, biotechnology, IT, logistics and food products. The goal of this foundation is to encourage inter-disciplinary actions to bring together people that would not normally interact. Often, this means navigating the differences in the Danish and Swedish cultures, and one part of their research in food involves testing new products and observing reactions from both nationalities.

The biotechnology region, Medicon Valley, has attracted new companies that may have considered other regions like Stockholm. Currently, 60% of the biotechnology industry in both countries resides in the Öresund Region.  Biogen, an American company, has chosen the Öresund Region for its first location outside of the U.S. The company mentioned that its main reasons for picking the new location were the high concentration of research and development and access to Copenhagen Airport enabled by the bridge. Biogen should employ 1,000 when fully operational.

Currently, the Oresund Region is competing with Hungary, Germany, Spain, and the UK to house the first European Spallation Source (ESS) for studying neutrons, which are produced through high impact acceleration.  There is only one such site in the world (Oak Ridge, Tennessee). However, Europe’s will be the largest facility of its kind when it is complete, employing 6,000 researchers. A source claimed that the region would not have bid for this project had the bridge not been built.

The Öresund Region has not been immune to the recent economic crisis. For instance, a business park on an artificial peninsula created for the bridge on the Denmark side, near the airport, has halted construction. Copenhagen also suffered economic losses due to its high concentration of jobs in the banking sector, while car distribution sites on the Swedish side have full lots waiting to be moved. However, people recognize that the region is less vulnerable to the crisis because of its integration. It is believed that unemployment would have risen more and property values would have fallen more in recent months without the presence of the bridge. 

Measuring the economic impact of the bridge is difficult due to the complexity of the region. While the bridge represents the removal of an access barrier, the expense of crossing it mitigates its maximum potential impact.  The costs for public transport over the bridge are reasonable, but the costs for freight and passenger car transportation are high. One professor that studied the impact of having tolls estimates that tolls are responsible for $2 billion in GDP lost annually.  Local research suggests that approximately 20% of the growth in the region can be attributed to the bridge, totaling 30,000-40,000 jobs from 1994, the start of construction, to 2006. 

5.0 Non-Transportation Factors

Local and regional factors have worked in conjunction with the bridge to foster growth in the region. The Öresund Region has tracked slightly above the recent growth in GDP in Europe.  Since 1995, real GDP in the region has increased by 24% compared to 23% for the EU countries.  The European Union has also contributed to economic growth throughout the continent by reducing border security and effectively lowering trade barriers between countries, resulting in a nearly seamless flow of people and trade across borders.  No customs or passport control is required to cross from Denmark to Sweden over the Öresund Bridge.  The EU has also encouraged regional integration with funding for cross-border projects to encourage regional cooperation.

The region is attractive for living and working for many reasons. There is a high concentration of universities and modernized industry, which make it fertile ground for innovation. The area also offers a high quality of life.  There is very low crime and many cultural offerings in Copenhagen. The Swedes now have easy access to the amenities that Copenhagen offers for shopping and entertainment, such as Tivoli Gardens. Also, the region has collaborated in drawing tourism. People visiting for conference in Copenhagen can stay in hotels on the other side with ease. The addition of accessible hotel beds has made it possible to host the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 in Copenhagen.

Neither country is part of the European Currency Union. This makes for disparities between sides with currency fluctuations. Recently, the currency in Sweden (kronas) has depreciated relative to the Danish currency (kroners), which has helped export growth in Sweden but also made it cheaper for Danes to live and spend their wages in Sweden.

Differences in tax and social security systems create uncertainty for people moving between the two countries. The governments are working on coordinating these systems. Because the Danish and Swedish languages are quite similar, Danes and Swedes can understand each other, but cultural differences remain. However, the bridge has created what one person called a “mental bridge” between Sweden and Denmark. 

6.0 Resources

6.1 Citations

• Öresundsbro Konsortiet, Annual Report 2008,  by Öresundsbron
• Economic Effects of the Öresund Bridge – A Spatial Computable General Equilibrium Analysis , Marcus Sundberg, Division of Transport and Location Analysis, Department of Transport and Economics, Royal Institute of Technology - Stockholm, Sweden, October 2005.
• The Interspace between Denmark and Sweden: The Industrial Synamics of the Öresund Cross-Border Region, Karl-John Lundquist and Lars Winther, Danish Journal of Geography 106(1),  p. 115-129.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96resund_Bridge
• http://osb.oeresundsbron.dk/frontpage/?lang=1
• http://www.oresundsregionen.org/2fa92ef4/code/1
• www.tendensoresund.org

6.2 Interviews

Organizations

Lund University

Öresund Logistics

Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm)

Öresund Science Region

Region Skane

University of Copenhagen

Footnotes (optional)

Case Study Developed by Economic Development Research Group, Inc.

Attachments:

• Economic Effects of Oresund Bridge

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Epic Project Management: The Øresund Bridge: Episode 26

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 26 of the PM for the Masses Podcast!

Today we talk about the absolutely stunning Øresund Bridge, which connects Sweden and Denmark.  This project is specially unique because it involves a bridge, an island, and a tunnel.  For this episode of the PM for the Masses podcast, I speak with Klaus Falbe-Hansen, project manager of this epic project.

Press the “play” button on top of this post to listen to my conversation with Klaus Falbe-Hansen and learn about:

• Environmental concerns and workarounds encountered during this project
• The design process
• Project Management
• Project communications
• The dynamics between Sweden and Denmark as they co-manage this landmark asset
• Was this project delivered on time and on budget?
• Risk management
• Some of the construction solutions used during this project
• Lessons learned
• And many other fascinating aspects of this fantastic project.

Klaus Falbe-Hansen

Mr Falbe-Hansen has 40 years experience in the design of bridges worldwide.

He has been responsible for all phases of project development from feasibility studies and concept design through to detailed design, preparation of contract documentation and site supervision. He has experience of ‘design/build’ contracts and commissions carried out directly for client authorities. He was responsible for the design of Kylesku Bridge, which has won a number of design awards.

From 1987 to 1990 he was responsible for the Bridges Group of Ove Arup Hong Kong and was responsible for the successful alternative design for Kwun Tong Bypass Phases II and III, which introduced balanced cantilever construction using precast segments to Hong Kong. From 1991 to 1993 he was Resident Principal, responsible for the firm’s activities in Germany and for establishing offices in Leipzig and Berlin.

He was Director of Ove Arup and Partners Danmark A/S, responsible for the detailed conceptual design, the technical tender documentation and the auditing and monitoring of the construction of the 7.8km Øresund Bridge, part of the Øresund Link between Denmark and Sweden. The Link was opened 1July 2000 three months ahead of schedule and on budget. The bridge contains a cable-stayed main span of 490m, which is the longest cable-stayed span in the world carrying both road and rail traffic.

Mr Falbe-Hansen has since 2006 worked as a Consultant to Arup.

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A Spotlight on the Øresund Bridge, Denmark and Sweden

Gina Coe looks at the experiences of investing in infrastructure, specifically the Øresund Bridge situated in the Øresund Region, to address regional inequality. 

Infrastructure investment can boost a region’s economic growth in the short-, medium-, and long-term , as well as working to address regional inequalities and disparities in outcomes.

The blog shines a brief spotlight on the models of governance and financing used in the construction of the Øresund Bridge. Further details of this case study and others can be found in the ‘Addressing Regional Inequalities’ report . This blog is based on research and interviews with stakeholders conducted as part of the project.

What is the Øresund Region?

The Øresund Region, part of a wider metropolitan area known as Greater Copenhagen, is a historic region of Sweden and Denmark . The region joins the Danish cities of Copenhagen, Odense, and Roskilde with the Swedish cities of Malmö, Lund and Helsingborg, as shown in Figure 1.

In 2019, the region recorded a population of more than 4 million inhabitants, with the population growing by 0.8% in 2018 . The region is also of economic importance , accounting for 25% of Sweden and Denmark’s total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) combined.

Why was the Øresund Bridge Needed?

The Øresund Bridge has been in demand since at least the early 1900s . However, the effects of deindustrialisation, felt most acutely in the 1970s and 1980s, furthered the political will and drive for infrastructure investment .

The city of Malmö – alongside Copenhagen – was particularly affected by deindustrialisation , due to its industrially focused economy. As such, Malmö saw significant declines in its industrial employment and an overall population decline of 35,000 residents .

What did the Øresund Bridge aim to address?

The Øresund Bridge sought to address the economic, administrative, institutional, and technical barriers within the region.

The Swedish and Danish governments signed an agreement in 1991 to construct the bridge, following an agreement 18 years prior that was not acted upon . Construction on the Bridge began in 1995 and it opened in 2000 . The Bridge is formed of a railway and motorway which connects Copenhagen and Malmö.

How was/is the Øresund Bridge governed and financed?

The Øresund Bridge was constructed and is owned and operated by Øresundbro Konsortiet , which is jointly owned by the Swedish and Danish national governments through state-owned corporations.

The construction of the Bridge was financed through loans, taken on the domestic and foreign financial markets and guaranteed by the Swedish and Danish states. These construction costs totalled DKK 14.8 billion (equivalent to £1.72 billion) in 1990, approximately DKK 24.5 billion (equivalent to £2.84 billion) in 2018 prices .

Tolls generated from the Bridge, mainly those commuting via car travel, are used to repay these loans . The Bridge is expected to be repaid by 2050 .

What Impacts has the Øresund Bridge had?

Every day 75,000 people use the Øresund Bridge, with half of the freight between Sweden and Demark using this fixed link . As a result of this cross-border commuting, the Bridge has reportedly delivered an estimated economic gain  of £7bn billion to the Øresund Region .

The Bridge has also connected labour markets in the region , which have benefitted from their increased proximity and accessibility to Copenhagen’s international airport. This opening up of labour markets and economic opportunities was echoed in a number of interviews. The impact of which can be seen in the recorded 17% increase in employment and 21% increase in GDP between 2000-2010 in the Swedish section of the Øresund Region, whilst the Danish section observed a 4% increase in employment and 12% increase in GDP over the same time period .

What Challenges has the Øresund Bridge faced?

A number of stakeholders that we spoke to highlighted the recent challenges that stricter border controls and COVID-19 travel restrictions have presented to the Bridge and cross-border movements. One participant noted that due to these challenges, many individuals were looking for new employment opportunities that bypassed the Bridge entirely.

The Bridge’s use of tolls has also presented a challenge, with tolls previously lowered to facilitate greater commuter flows . A further challenge identified by participants relates to how the revenues from the Bridge return to the Swedish and Danish national governments rather than the regions in which the Bridge is situated. This return of revenue was seen as a particular challenge and downfall of the Bridge’s construction and design, with regional governments looking to adapt the financial structures of future infrastructure investments to ensure some revenue returns to the regions.

The differing responsibilities, powers, and tax systems of the regional governments of Sweden and Denmark provided an additional challenge to the Bridge, a cross-national infrastructure investment. Our research discusses how Danish regional governments hold fewer powers than their Swedish counterparts. As such, the Danish national government is often involved in discussions of infrastructure investment. This can create significant challenges for bi-national discussions, due to the imbalance in governance levels and priorities between the Danish national government and Swedish regional governments.

What Learning can the Øresund Bridge provide?

The Øresund Bridge provides an example of bi-national infrastructure investment, with unique governance and financial structures. This example can provide key learning for investments in infrastructure elsewhere, notably in the delivery of the UK’s Levelling Up Agenda ( view our work on Levelling Up ) and Build Back Better strategy. One key learning point can be found within the adaptation of future infrastructure projects to overcome the challenges associated with the return of the Bridge’s revenue to the national governments of Sweden and Denmark rather than their regions. This pro-active approach, based upon a critical evaluation of past projects, could prove to be a useful example of evidence-based and future-forward leadership that aims to build upon the strengths of past initiatives and mitigate against their difficulties. Such leadership could be implemented elsewhere to ensure the delivery of continued, high-quality, and highly beneficial infrastructure projects for communities.

For a more detailed study of the Øresund Bridge and wider exploration into the Øresund Region’s initiatives and organisations aimed at addressing inequalities, enabling integration, and boosting knowledge systems see the wider ‘ Addressing Regional Inequalities ’ CIPFA report. This report also contains a number of other interesting case studies from international city-regions, that provide key learning for the UK and elsewhere.

This blog was written by Gina Coe, previously WMREDI summer intern and current Government Social Researcher. 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of City-REDI / WMREDI or the University of Birmingham.

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Øresund Bridge, Sweden - Denmark

The strait between Sweden and Denmark can be crossed by a combined railway and motorway bridge named Øresund Bridge, which runs nearly 8 km from the Swedish coast to an artificial island (Peberholm) in the middle of the strait. From there travelers take the Drogden Tunnel the 4 km from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager. The Øresund Bridge connects Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmö, Sweden; and it is noted for being the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe.  

Øresund is an impressive highway and railway link consisting of an immersed tunnel, artificial island and a combination bridge requiring observation of the oscillations of cables of the stayed bridge under heavy wind conditions. The scope of the Øresund project was to deliver a Cable Stayed Bridge Structural Monitoring System.   

The bridge system solution monitors the deflections of the bridge under loads generated by highway and railway traffic. Excesses of any threshold values are recorded and managed from an on-site traffic control centre.  

The system comprises 105 channels and a data acquisition and processing centre; and digital RS-485 cable communication with provision for 15 hours’ autonomy in case of power failure. Temperature/environmental data correlation are made alongside strain gauge measurements with 14 metereological sensors (METEO-TT & METEO-WSDT), 19 GSG-xx strain sensors and 22 AC-53 triaxial force balance accelerometers. A single CR-4 PC-based recording system is used for running programs, SEISLOG data acquisition, CENTRAL remote access, CMS, and static data processing. A telephone line connection to the traffic control centre is provided for data, event and alarm transmission. Another great solution using GeoSIG instruments, showing that quality and reliability can also be cost-effective.  

This area can be used for a final sales message.

Traffic Management at Øresund Bridge

A route with a daily traffic of almost 20,000 vehicles have a crucial need: the smooth flow of traffic with no traffic jams, all these in a way that remains safe.

About the Client

The Øresund [Öresund] Bridge is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Öresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometers (~5 mi.) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait.

Quick Project Facts

• Product: Carmen® ANPR Image license plate recognition software
• Key functionality: border control registration, traffic management
• Adaptive Recognition partner: Kapsch TrafficCom AB
• End user: Government of Denmark

The Location

The Øresund (or Öresund) Bridge is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometers (~5 mi.) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometer Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.

The Challenge

Such route with a daily traffic of almost 20,000 vehicles (!) has a crucial need: the smooth flow of traffic with no traffic jams, all these in a way that remains safe.

At the land borders between Sweden and Denmark, a key contributing factor is the processing speed of each vehicle. It is of utmost importance for both the government and those who actually cross the borders, because short time delays add up really quickly and easily slow down the traffic. Avoiding any delay is even more vital in the peak hours of a day, when each saved second may mean a huge difference.

The Solution

This is why the border control process is aided by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), to detect and register all license plates of crossing vehicles. The process is fully automatic, done by traffic cameras which supply the images to the industry leader Carmen ® FreeFlow license plate recognition engine . Besides the automatic character recognition, the license plate data can be easily cross-checked with any stolen vehicle database and other law enforcement systems.

Carmen ® works with every camera model and provides exceptionally high accuracy, even in low light conditions. No matter if it is night or day, sunny or rainy, the software digitalizes the plates with no exception. Besides the Øresund bridge project, a long list of other border control locations benefits from the same technology.

Learn more about Carmen®, the industry leader ANPR software:

Source of statistical data: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Bridge

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Case Study: The Oresund bridge, a not-so-popular Nordic bridge

January 14, 2021 by studymumbai Leave a Comment

Q. Read the following case study and answer the question

It was not quite what the planners had in mind when Sweden and Denmark opened their expensive bridge across the Oresund strait in July. After an early boost from summer tourism, car crossings have fallen sharply, while trains now connecting Copenhagen, the Danish capital, and Malmo, Sweden’s third city, are struggling to run on time. Many people think the costs of using the bridge are simply too high. And, from the point of view of Scandinavian solidarity, the traffic is embarrassingly one-sided: far more Swedes are going to Denmark than vice versa. So last week the authorities decided to knock almost 50% off the price of a one-way crossing for the last three months of this year.

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The two governments, which paid nearly $2 billion for the 16km (10-mile) state-owned bridge-cumtunnel, reckoned that, above all, it would strengthen economic ties across the strait and create, within a few years, one of the fastest-growing and richest regions in Europe. But ministers on both sides of the water, especially in Sweden, have been getting edgy about the bridge’s teething problems. Last month Leif Pagrotsky, Sweden’s trade minister, called for a tariff review: the cost of driving over the bridge, at SKr255 ($26.40) each way, was too high to help integrate the region’s two bits.

Businessmen have been complaining too. Novo Nordisk, a Danish drug firm which moved its Scandinavian marketing activities to Malmo to take advantage of ‘the bridge effect’, has been urging Danish staff to limit their trips to Malmo by working more from home. Ikea, a Swedish furniture chain with headquarters in Denmark, has banned its employees from using the bridge altogether when travelling on company business, and has told them to make their crossings –more cheaply if a lot more slowly – by ferry.

The people managing the bridge consortium say they always expected a dip in car traffic from a summer peak of 20,000 vehicles a day. But they admit that the current daily flow of 6,000 vehicles or so must increase if the bridge is to pay its way in the long run. So they are about to launch a new advertising campaign. And they are still upbeat about the overall trend: commercial traffic is indeed going up. The trains have carried more than 1m passengers since the service began in July.

Certainly, the bridge is having some effect. Many more Swedes are visiting the art galleries and cafes of Copenhagen; more Danes are nipping northwards over the strait. Some 75% more people crossed the strait in the first two months after the bridge’s opening than during the same period a year before.

Other links are being forged too. Malmo’s Sydsvenska Dagbladet and Copenhagen’s Berlingske Tidende newspapers now produce a joint Oresund supplement every day, while cross-border ventures in health, education and information technology have begun to bear fruit. Joint cultural ventures are also under way. And how about linking eastern Denmark more directly with Germany’s Baltic Sea coastline, enabling Danes to go by train from their capital to Berlin in, say, three hours? Despite the Danes’ nej to the euro, it is still a fair bet that this last much-talked-about project will, within ten years or so, be undertaken.

a. Explain why the demand for the bridge is likely to be price-elastic. b. If the Swedish government estimates that the price elasticity is 1.4, calculate the effect on traffic using the bridge, stating any assumptions. c. Why is the calculation above not likely to give an accurate forecast for the long term?

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