The Hellebroa Bridge

Hellebroa is the only driveable land connection between Nørvøya in the East and Aspøya in the West. It might not be a staggering structure, but for the normal person from Ålesund, it is the most important hub in the centre. The first edition of the bridge was finished in 1836, and during the building process, the strait below the bridge was deepened, to allow smaller boats to pass from the South to the North. This became the Hellebroa until 1907. The original bridge burned down during the city fire in 1904, and from 1904 until 1907, a simple, provisory bridge made of tree, was used. During the construction of the second bridge, it was decided that it should be a swivelling construction of iron, to allow larger boats to pass into the Brosundet. In the following years, it became necessary to build a bigger bridge, as the traffic in the centre grew with the population. Today’s bridge was finished in December 1936, and although some still think the strait is in need of a bigger bridge, this is the Hellebroa.