Towards a service life extension of the Øresund Fixed Link

The Øresund Fixed Link is a 15,9 km road and railway connection between the southerly Swedish city of Malmö and its neighbor across the Øresund strait, Copenhagen, in Denmark. The link, which opened in 2000, consists of an elevated bridge, including a high stay cable bridge, an artificial island, as well as a submerged tunnel. The operators of the link, Øresundsbron Consortium, have recently, as part of a comprehensive sustainability strategy, initiated a project for extending the service life of the link. The project, which is being carried out by researchers at Lund University, aims to develop decision support for service life extension of the bridge and tunnel structures to 200 years. The tasks include the identification, modelling, and analysis of service life relevant scenarios (as a basis for service life quantification) as well as decision scenario modelling and analyses considering possible future repair actions. A brief overview of the project is provided along with a general framework for service life quantification. Preliminary results for an example, concerning active corrosion initiation of the immersed tunnel roof, are also provided. This work highlights the potential benefits of industry-academic collaboration towards improved infrastructure operation and maintenance and, by extension, sustainability.