Many small steps add up to large ones. That’s a simple way to sum up Iggesund Paperboard’s environmental work. It is easy to give examples of Iggesund’s multi-million euro investments and their importance. But the company also makes many smaller investment decisions which have important environmental aspects. One of these is the wooden bridge that links the mill at Iggesund with the wastewater purification facility on the adjacent island of Skälön.
“Long-term environment work is less about making a few big decisions and more about making many small decisions which include the environmental aspects,” explains Anna Mårtensson, Environmental Manager at the company’s Swedish paperboard mill, Iggesund Mill. “In this case a wooden bridge was a better environmental choice than a concrete one.”
For over a century bridges in Sweden have primarily been built of steel and concrete. But now wooden bridges are gaining ground again. They are as durable as concrete and are also beautiful. When their environmental aspects are also considered, wooden bridges are a serious alternative.
The modern history of wooden bridges in the Nordic region really began in the 1990s. At that time Sweden, Norway and Finland agreed to develop common standards and technical solutions for wooden road bridges which would have the same performance and lifespan as bridges made of steel and concrete.
The longest wooden bridge built in Sweden to date is a 230-metre-long pedestrian and cycling bridge in the northern city of Umeå. The oldest wooden bridge in the country dates from 1737 and spans the Skellefteå River.
As architects and engineers learn more about how to use wood as a building material, more and more wooden bridges are being built.
Iggesund Paperboard has joined the trend. When Iggesund Mill expanded its wastewater purification facility on the island of Skälön outside the mill, the company decided to replace the old bridge with a stronger one. The new bridge would allow heavy trucks heading for the island to avoid making a nine-kilometre detour.
“We quickly calculated that a new bridge would pay off, both financially and environmentally,” Environmental Manager Anna Mårtensson remembers.
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