Saltstraumen is a sound*** with a strong tidal current, located in Nordland. It is the strongest tidal current in the world. Up to 400 million m³ of seawater forces its way through a 3 km long and 150 m wide strait every six hours with water speeds reaching about 37km/h. Vortices up to 10 m in diameter and 5 m in depth are formed when the current is at its strongest; this feature is commonly known as a whirlpool. Saltstraumen has only existed for some two to three thousand years. Before that the area was different due to the pressure from the glaciers that had covered Norway for tens of thousands of years. The current is created when the tide tries to fill in the Skjerstad fjord. The height difference between the sea level and the fjord inside can be up to 1m. Saltstraumen is popular with anglers due to its abundance of fish such as cod, saithe, wolffish, rosefish and halibut. Coalfish is the specialty for this area. In fact, the world's largest, registered coalfish of 22.7 kg. was caught in Saltstraumen on a fishing rod. (that probably is the one posing on the card :))
Saltstraumen Bridge is a cantilever bridge that crosses Saltstraumen. It is 768 metres long, the longest span is 160 metres, and the maximum clearance to the sea is 41 metres. The bridge has 10 spans. Saltstraumen Bridge was opened in 1978.
*** to avoid any kind of ambiguity, the word 'sound' in geographical terms is a large sea or ocean inlet, larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, wider than a fjord, or it may identify a narrow sea or ocean channel, between two bodies of land.
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