Highway 29 cross-border bridge

ongoing

The project is located on Highway 29 in the city of Tornio in Finland, on the TEN-T Core Network and part of both the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor and the North Sea -Baltic Corridor. The objective of the project is to upgrade the road bridge crossing the river Tornio and leading to the Finnish-Swedish border. The project will improve the structural strength and load-bearing capacity for civilian and military transport extending the bridge’s service life. It will also reduce cross-border traffic and noise pollution and enhance emergency preparedness and road safety. The project will comply with the dual-use road requirements (No 1-8) as defined in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1328. The concrete deck of the bridge is damaged by the alkali-aggregate reaction. The old bridge deck will be replaced with a new deck with a composite structure. The intermediate supports and ground supports will be repaired. The railings will be upgraded to current standards, improving the bridge’s crash safety. The expansion joints will be replaced with quiet models, reducing noise pollution in the urban area. The total length of the bridge measures 318 meters with a total width of minimum 18,30 meters and a maximum width of 24,18 meters. The main objectives of the project are to remove a traffic bottleneck between Finland and Sweden and facilitate the security of the supply by improving Finland's main overland connection to Europe and the ports of Norway. In addition, the project will enable the development of the unique twin town TornioHaparanda located on the border between Finland and Sweden.