September 30 in Swedish History

The Öland Bridge is inaugurated on this day in 1972. 

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  The Öland Bridge, once the longest bridge in Europe, was inaugurated on September 30 in 1972.

• September 30 in Swedish History
  1972: Ölandsbron, or the Öland Bridge, is inaugurated this day. Among the speakers at the ceremony, which takes place on the island side of the bridge, is Crown Prince Carl Gustaf (today King Carl XVI Gustaf). The bridge, which connects Kalmar on the mainland with Färjestaden on the island of Öland, cost 80 million SEK ($12 million) to build, and the construction took 4.5 years. The bridge project received much suport, but also protests. Those who objected, were worried that the bridge would threaten the environment, and possibly cause a huge influx of tourists to Öland and thus harm its precious nature. The total length of the bridge is 6072 meters, or 19,921 feet and it crosses the Kalmar Strait.

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  The total length of the bridge is 6072 meters, or 19,921 feet as it crosses the Kalmar Strait.

• The bridge has changed a lot more than expected for Sweden's second largest island, no longer considered an island by the rest of Europe... Öland is no island!