{{Infobox bridge |bridge_name = Tana Bridge |image = New Tana Bridge crossing Tana River in Tana, Troms og Finnmark, Norway, 2022 August.jpg |caption = |official_name = |carries = {{europavei|6}} {{europavei|75}} |crosses = [[Tana River (Norway)|Tana River]] |locale = [[Finnmark]], [[Norway]] |maint = |id = |designer = |design = |material = |spans = |pierswater = |mainspan = {{convert|234|m|abbr=on}} |length = {{convert|260|m|abbr=on}} |width = |height = |load = |clearance = |below = |traffic = |begin = |complete = |open = 2020 |heritage = |collapsed = |preceded = |followed = |closed = |toll = |map_cue = |map_image = |map_text = |map_width = |coordinates = {{coord|70|11|54|N|28|11|58|E|type:landmark_source:dewiki_region:NO|display=inline,title}} }} The '''Tana Bridge''' ({{langx|no|Tana bru}}) is a bridge that crosses the [[Tana River (Norway)|Tana River]] in [[Finnmark]], [[Norway]]. It is located in a village also called ''[[Tana bru]]''.
The bridge was opened for traffic on 15 September 2020. It is a 260 meter long cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 234 meters. It is the only bridge over the lowest 100 km of the [[Tana (Norway)|Tana River]]. One nickname ('new bridge') "Nybrua", was in use in 2020 when the village once had two bridges.
Previously, there have been other bridges named ''Tana Bridge''; one bridge was demolished, from late 2020 and into 2021.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://snl.no/Tana_bru|title = Tana bru|date = 4 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sagat.no/rivinga-av-brubaringa-startet/19.25006|title = Rivinga av brubæringa startet|date = 2 December 2020}}</ref> Previously, one bridge was demolished in 1944.
The bridge glows in different colours of light at night with GVA color-changing luminaires.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2023 |title=GVA lighting |url=https://gvalighting.com/portfolio-items/tana-bru/ |website=gvalighting.com}}</ref>
== The first bridges == The first bridge was a wooden bridge opened in 1939. It was removed every autumn, because it could not handle the [[freshet|ice-melt flooding]] in spring. In the winter an [[ice road]] was made. It had traffic interruption every year when the bridge needed to be removed but the ice was not strong enough to drive on.
Germany occupied Norway 1940-1945 and wanted a continuous road, so they built a suspension bridge similar to the one built 1948. This bridge that was destroyed on November 6, 1944, as a consequence of the [[Liberation of Finnmark]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://snl.no/Tana_bru|title=Tana bru |publisher= Store norske leksikon|accessdate= September 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/river-gamle-tana-bru-1.15184998|title=River gamle Tana bru|date=2 October 2020}}</ref>
==The bridge that existed from 1948 to 2020== [[File:Tana bru 1.jpg|thumb|The bridge that was in operation until 2020]] In December 2020, twelve metres (from the center) of the bridge, was removed permanently;<ref name="auto"/> the final demolishment of the bridge was done [in first half of] 2021.<ref name="auto1"/>
The old bridge was 220 metres long, and the main span is 194 metres. It was opened in 1948.
==See also== *[[Sami Bridge]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Related reading== *Chris Mann (2012) ''British Policy and Strategy Towards Norway, 1941-45'' (Palgrave Macmillan) {{ISBN|9780230210226}}
{{Bridges in Norway}}
[[Category:Road bridges in Finnmark]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1948]] [[Category:Suspension bridges in Norway]] [[Category:1948 establishments in Norway]] [[Category:Tana Municipality]]
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