Grenland Bridge

Grenland Bridge

Grenlandsbrua
Grenland Bridge; Grenlandsbrua
	View of the Grenlandsbrua, seen from Breviksbrua
Coordinates	59°03′11″N 9°40′32″E / 59.05296°N 9.675608°E
Carries	Two lanes of E18
Crosses	Frierfjord
Locale	Porsgrunn / Bamble,; Telemark, Norway
Characteristics
Design	Asymmetrical; cable-stayed bridge
Total length	608 metres (1,995 ft)
Width	12 metres (39 ft)
Height	168 metres (551 ft)
Longest span	305 metres (1,001 ft)
Clearance below	50 metres (160 ft)
History
Construction cost	180 million kr
Opened	1996
Location

Grenland Bridge (Norwegian: Grenlandsbrua) is Norway's highest cable-stayed bridge with a tower height of 168 metres (551 ft). The bridge, which opened in 1996, is part of the European Route E18 highway and it crosses the Frierfjord, a fjord in Telemark county. The bridge connects the town of Brevik in Porsgrunn Municipality to the town of Stathelle in Bamble Municipality. When built, it replaced Brevik Bridge (Breviksbrua) as the primary route across the fjord.^[2]^[3]

The 608-metre-long (1,995 ft) bridge uses cable stayed construction to provide clearance for vessels up to 50 metres (164 ft) in height. The stay cables are arranged in 21 cable pairs with lengths from 84 to 287 metres (276 to 942 ft). The bridge's span is 305 metres (1,001 ft).^[4] It has two lanes, one per direction.

In 2021 the construction of a similar bridge started just west of the existing bridge. It will be opened in 2025, and then there will be four-lane motorway traffic with one direction per bridge.^[5]