Preparing for long-term infrastructure disruptions

Abstract

The fixed link between Denmark and Sweden connects two busy cities and a large international airport with many of its travelers and employees. 18,000 vehicles and 160 passenger trains transport each day more than 70,000 people across the combined road and rail Øresund Bridge and through the Øresund Tunnel, approximately 25,000 of them critical to the regional work market. Even though the risk analysis states that the likelihood of a long-term closure (100C days) is very low Danish and Swedish transport authorities have demanded that the infrastructure operator conducts a survey of the preparedness plans already in place and map possible alternate travel routes for people and freight in case of long-term disruptions. This paper (a) delineates the concept of infrastructure, (b) describes the proceedings of the Work Group for Øresund Preparedness 2014–2016, and (c) discusses the findings presented in its final report to the Danish and Swedish transport authorities while drawing upon experiences from two recent comparable cases of infrastructure disruptions: The Champlain Bridge (2009) and the Forth Road Bridge (2015).