Cirkelbroen

Masts and wire ropes of the Cirkelbro

Detail of the railing

Cirkelbroen (The Circle Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge in Copenhagen , completed in 2015 , designed by the Danish-Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson . It consists of five connected circular platforms of different sizes, each with a mast with wire ropes. These should arouse associations with sailing ships.

The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen called the bridge a landmark at the inauguration .

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The bridge was a gift from the Nordea Foundation, the foundation of Nordea Aktiengesellschaft. It should have been completed before the end of 2013, but the construction work was delayed by the bankruptcy of the construction company E. Pihl & Søn .

The bridge was finally opened on August 22, 2015. It crosses the Christianshavn Canal, forms a continuous promenade along the inner harbor and connects the districts of Christianshavn and Applebys Plads.

The bridge should be reminiscent of sailing ships with their masts. The designer Elíasson described his inspiration as follows:

“While working on the bridge, I remembered the fishing boats I saw as a kid in Iceland. In the harbor, the boats were often right next to each other, and at times it seemed as if one could even cross the harbor by walking from boat to boat. ...

Up to 5000 people will cross this bridge every day. I hope that these people will use Cirkelbroen as a meeting point and that, due to the zigzag design of the bridge, they will reduce their speed and take a break. "

- Ólafur Elíasson

The bridge is around 32 meters long, with the ramps 40 meters at both ends. Flat boats such as harbor tour ships can pass the clearance height of 2.75 meters, for taller boats three of the five round platforms are opened horizontally as a swing bridge . These three rotating platforms are connected to a steel structure on the floor. It takes 20 seconds to open the bridge.

The platforms are made of concrete; the bridge weighs a total of 210 tons. The railings are painted coral red , the handrail is made of Brazilian Guariúba wood. The bridge is illuminated at night by LED lights in the masts and railings, which are automatically switched on and off with the street lights.

The building cost 34 million Danish kroner (4.6 million euros).