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With just days to go, DN will premiere its premiere in Guldbron, which opens to traffic on Monday. It crosses the granite slabs of the walkway, the torn concrete of the bike lanes, and the black soft asphalt of the lanes.
– The granite slabs have been quarried in Bohuslän and Småland and prepared in Skåne, we have laid 1,800 tons of granite stone, says Jan Uden, Skanska project manager.
Tony Brander is a blacksmith who joins holes in the bridge, one of thirty workers who work shifts just days before the opening, under the leadership of project manager Jan Uden.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
We are also asked to touch the gold itself. Painted in seven layers along the edges of the bridge. The sixth layer is golden in color with metallic components that make the surface lumpy.
– It is so that the light is reflected without it becoming a large bright lantern. It should shine without destroying the old town and Södermalm, says Eva Rosman, city communications manager for Slussen.
Just that boastful Gold has been etched in the eyes of many critics.
– People have seen something cheesy and bright in front of them that will dazzle everyone and give the impression of a city. But here, on the bridge, it is clear how well it harmonizes with the facades of the old town. It’s flawless, says Eva Rosman.
Seven layers of gold paint and three-tone granite tiles from Bohuslän and Småland on the walkway between Södermalm and the Old Town.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
She emphasizes how thin the steel bridge is compared to heavy concrete. The 145-meter-long bridge weighs about 3,400 tons. When the Slussende debate erupted at its worst, it was described as an eight-lane motorway leading into the old town.
– You have the feeling that we are building something much bigger, but that is not the case. We have reduced both the number of lanes and the number of bridge meters. The golden bridge is only 45 meters wide compared to the previous 98 meters and twelve lanes have been converted into eight, says Eva Rosman.
The lock project has shaken since the plan was presented in 2011. Criticism of the harsh redevelopment of Stockholm’s most public traffic area has become loud and perennial. But when explosives tore the functionalist cloverleaf of the traffic carousel in half, the tipping point came last winter. In a stormy Vizcaya.
Guldbron quickly gained more than 10,000 followers on the app during his stormy 69-day trip from China to Stockholm last winter.
Photo: Skanska
A maritime application with real-time monitoring of the ship ZHEN HUA 33 suddenly gained more than ten thousand followers. Most were Stockholmians who wanted to know when, or even if, the Golden Bridge would arrive. Only after a dramatic 69 days at sea did the Stockholm archipelago arrive on March 22. Its last nautical mile was followed from cliffs and piers by thousands of cheering fans and it became the largest ship ever docked at Stadsgårdskajen.
– Many people wonder how much the city of Stockholm paid to attract attention around the golden bridge. We did not do anything. No public relations agency in the world could have created this advertisement. It’s not on the map to create such dramaturgy on your own. I think people longed for excitement, says Eva Rosman.
Thousands of Stockholm residents welcomed the bridge when it arrived in March.
Photo: Josefine Stenersen
For Skanska, navigation was far from being pleasant. Already off the coast of Somalia, pirated, the crews were forced to board armed guards.
– We thought it was difficult and challenging. First out of Somalia with the pirates. Then through the Suez Canal and then through the Mediterranean and the storms. It was a disappointment when it never came out. “We had a lot of associated jobs,” says Jan Uden.
The delay note has not yet been published. The city bought the bridge at a fixed price of 200 million SEK so that taxpayers avoid the cost. Skanska and the manufacturer share the gilt bronze ticket for late arrivals.
– We bought the transport of the bridge from the Chinese, at the same time we noticed that they had difficulty getting the boat that was required. We pushed for it to arrive on time and they had to force a boat, and then the storms came in Bizkaia, so I think we shared that money, says Jan Uden.
When the Golden Bridge came, it was more dirty yellow than gleaming gold. The golden hue was only corrected later.
Photo: Magnus Hallgren
The company also received Harsh weather criticism for the bridge shipping from China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group worldwide. IVL The Swedish Environmental Institute estimated emissions at 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and some call Skanska’s climate compensation an easy-to-buy green laundry.
– Climate compensation for transport, it can be argued, says Jan Uden wisely.
He guides us across the bridge where some thirty people are working feverishly before the deadline. Several guilds now work in shifts throughout the day. Everything from blasters, welders, stonemasons, and divers to concrete workers, electricians, and engineers.
– Stockholm is building builders here in Slussen. We have a mix of young and old with an average age of 35 years. And 25 percent of girls among white-collar workers, more than usual. We also have twelve nationalities, many of them with cutting edge knowledge, the Portuguese are very good at laying granite slabs, says Jan Uden.
On Monday at 05.00, Guldbron opens for buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
On the bridge pier to the old town steel installer Michael Brunzell pulls out the grinder to attach the joint to the continent so the bridge can move.
– I’m trying to fix the joint and it doesn’t really fit. The screw doesn’t go into the hole so I have to modify it he says.
Michael Brunzell has been involved since the start of construction in June 2016 and has managed to build a walkway and a bus plaza. When Guldbron takes over traffic on Monday, the Western Bridge will be demolished and work can begin on the ship’s locks and canals. The gates are 36 meters long and weigh 70 tons.
– So we keep Lake Mälaren in place, he says.
Construction worker Sergio Sirbu execute the last finliret with stone slabs and curbs.
– The lock is only built once in a lifetime. We have also developed the old Stockholm. At the bottom of the bridge we find the fish market and archaeologists have found valleys, coins and silver here, says Sergio Sirbu.
This is the fifth time the lock has been rebuilt since Queen Kristina’s lock was built in 1642. Every hundred years or so. The last cloverleaf traffic zone and a Katarina elevator in a functional style were inaugurated in 1935 by King Gustav V. It was then seen as a much needed elevator for what was called “Slusseländet”. One who was impressed was Sture Skagermark, who is 98 years old today but only 13 then.
– I had to go with a steam loader from Visby to Stockholm. I really wanted to see the big city. And I had to travel alone. My grandfather had asked the captain of the ship “can the boy come with me?” And I got it, says Sture Skagermark.
98-year-old Sture Skagermark, who experienced the earlier Slussenbygget in 1935 when he was 13, was given a special tour of the new Slussenbygget prior to the opening of Guldbron.
Photo: DN
Is in the middle of the building disaster on the bridge and recounts his first transformative encounter with the capital, almost as impressed now as then.
– It was the biggest building I’ve ever seen. There were many holes in the wooden planks from noise. I stood there on the dock, wondering what it was. That was the last Slussen build.
Sture Skagermark won a place of honor for the opening on Sunday, but is unfortunately not allowed to participate due to crown restrictions and therefore received a special screening today.
The king’s inauguration and the crown princess is broadcast live on the web and the bridge opens to traffic at five in the morning on Monday. Jan Uden casts anxious glances at the rainy sky.
– We have challenges all the time, external parameters that we cannot control no matter how we plan. If it has been raining for three days, it will be very difficult to paint lines on the street.
During the walk, he is told that the force measurement shows a settlement of ten millimeters, better than the fifteen expected.
– In Västerbron, they drove the entire fleet of trucks from Stockholm to prove that it held up. Now it no longer performs large-scale testing, but rather theoretically testing with checkpoints. The bridge is handled with a good margin, the rails can support a bus crashing into them.
It’s called the slot, the tunnel track in the middle of the bridge, and it is initially only open for bicycle traffic, but will later lead to motor vehicles from Stadsgårdsleden.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
The lock project so far has escaped fatal accidents. The most serious incident was when a diver received a beam on his leg and was stuck underwater for 45 minutes.
– It was very hard, but the positive is that he is back and he dives again. The big problem with my job is that there will be accidents. It is the heaviest thing you have with you and the greatest challenge.
The 59-year-old project manager has built major projects around the world, most recently Citybanan, but finds Slussen perhaps the most complex. With a range of work from the deep seabed to the mountainous lands throughout the entire history of Stockholm. At a traffic junction that nearly half a million Stockholm residents pass through every day.
– The best of all after going around the world is that now I have cycling distance to work. My kids will be able to use Slussen. I can drive here myself with the walker and the bus, says Jan Uden.
Read more:
Claes Britton: Today it takes a lot to surprise, but the new “Golden Bridge” succeeds
Chinese crew fear corona infection – in Sweden
The Big Guide to the New Slussen: Here’s How It Should Look And Then It’s Ready
