- The waist of Stockholm
- The need for a lock
- 1642 The Lock of Queen Christina
- 1755 The Lock of Christopher Polhem
- 1850 The Lock of Nils Ericson
- 1935 The Lock of Karl Johan or the Cloverleaf traffic solution
- Architectural contest
- The Project
- At The Lock
- The Golden Bridge
- At The Katarina Road
- The Katarina Park
- Sjoberg’s Place
- Conclusion
- Picture sources
© AmorfatiTrips on all photos except where a source is indicated. As we live in Stockholm we pass through Slussen almost everyday.
The waist of Stockholm
Few cities in the world have such a wasp waist as Stockholm where the waist in the medieval city is Old Town (Gamla stan) and The Lock (Slussen). This has been a trading place and the trade route to and from Lake Mälaren since at least the 500s. During the latter part of the 20th century, Slussen has become more of a meeting place or something the Stockholmer sees only on the way to and from work. In 2015, a final decision was made on what Slussen should look like in the next 100 years and the focus was on getting the traffic route more separated and, above all, creating more meeting places for people. Now we’ll look at the locks that the Stockholmers have had and what it will look like during the trip into the future with Project Slussen. It happens in almost the same way it has seen Slussen transform every hundred years over the past 500 years. Changes on this page will continue as long as Project Slussen is in progress. Join us on a historic trip by The Lock.
The need for a lock
To understand why the first lock came to in 1642, one needs to understand the need the Stockholmers of that time had of this area. During the Viking era, one could easily sail past the straits on both sides of what would later become Stadsholmen, today’s Old Town, as the sea level was five meters higher than the current. However, land elevations meant that in the 13th century the old fairway at the present Helgeandsholmen had become difficult to use and that was when it got its present name Norrström (Northstream). At the same time, Söderström (Southstream), closest to Åsö or today’s Södermalm, had been completely lifted above the water level and prevented boats from passing by what is today’s Slussen. Lake Mälaren was thus well on the way to become a secluded lake, which is why two canals were dug out through the land tongue at Söderström. One canal, Kvarnström (Millstream), was used to supply mills with hydropower. In the second canal, Lilleström, (Smallstream) boats were dragged by manpower through the shallow transition. This went on for about 350 years and larger merchant vessels had to be reloaded as they couldn’t be pulled through the small canal.
1642 The Lock of Queen Christina
This led to a decision in the 1630s to build a lock and Lilleström began to be excavated while the vessels were dragged through Norrström during the five years the work was underway. Clas Larsson Fleming was given responsibility for the project and with the help of Dutch carpenters, the 40 meters long, 6 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep lock of Queen Christina was completed in 1642. The customs revenue was sixfold in just a few years and Slussen became a pride for, from 1634 the newly established Swedish capital, Stockholm.
1755 The Lock of Christopher Polhem
Already just over 50 years later, Queen Christina’s lock was too small and then followed 50 years of discussions before deciding to build a wider and deeper lock. The assignment to lead the work went to Christopher Polhem who did it completely without having any drawings. During the 11 years the construction was underway, boats could not pass Lilleström, instead they had to be relocated between Lake Mälaren and Saltsjön (Baltic Sea). Christopher was not allowed to experience the lock in action as he had died 4 years earlier and it was instead his son Gabriel who completed the project. The Lock of Polhem was completed in 1755 and was 44 meters long, 9.5 meters wide and twice as deep as its predecessor. Despite being built at the same site as the previous lock, it was four times more expensive than expected. As there were no drawings, a model of the lock was built in 1766 to be used infront of repair works. That model can still be seen today at the Technical Museum in Stockholm.
1850 The Lock of Nils Ericson
A little into the 19th century, Polhem’s lock could no longer meet the requirements that were then set for boat and land traffic. Nils Ericson, brother of John Ericson who invented the propeller, had his proposal to build the new lock at Kvarnström accepted in 1845. As a result, mills and other buildings on that canal were demolished while the vessels could continue to use Polhems lock unrestrictedly. In 1850 the new lock was completed with basically the same length and width but was half a meter deeper than its predecessor. However, the new lock had faster lock gates and modern flap bridges that could more easily handle the increasing traffic on land. Polhem’s lock was still there to provide a better opportunity to regulate the water level in Lake Mälaren.
1935 The Lock of Karl Johan or The Cloverleaf traffic solution
During the first decades of the 20th century, traffic on land increased further and the cars remained standing in time-consuming queues at bridge openings. The trams had arrived in the late 19th century but weighed too much for the flap bridge. They must turn on either side of the bridge while passengers had to walk over the lock until 1922 when the flap bridge was reinforced. The southern part of Södermalm had grown up with Skanskvarn (south of Södermalm) following the land increases that had taken place since the ice age. As early as the 1830s, a proposal to develop a boat canal around the south of Södermalm was rejected, but in 1929 The Hammarby Canal was opened, which took heavy shipping traffic away from Slussen. This opens up a whole new traffic solution at Slussen, which only needs to handle smaller boats without a bridge opening. With inspiration from America its decided on a cloverleaf traffic solution. It’s presented by the architects Tage William-Olsson and Holger Blom but the city planning office’s engineer Gösta Lundborg is said to be the brain behind the projectplan. They build a provisional pontoon bridge (to the left of the picture) so that the traffic flows smoothly during the construction project and also prepare the traffic site for future right-hand traffic.
The Lock of Karl Johan
The Polhem lock is finally filled up and instead it’s Nils Ericson’s lock that is used for water regulation. Boat traffic will again be led through Söderström under the name Karl Johan slussen. Although it’s 75 meters long, 10 meters wide and 3.5 meters deep, it falls into the shade as it lies below the road bridge and is mostly used by smaller boats. Functionalism had been guided by the project, and so did the pedestrians who were referred to tiled walkways under street level. The walkways were the only ornated part in this huge concrete block as the tiles in the walkways got colors after previous locks. In October 1935 the new traffic site Slussen and the first cloverleaf solution in Europe was inaugurated.
At the same time, the building of the Katarina tunnel had been started, which was inaugurated in September 1933 for a tram in the tunnel. It run on Södermalm between Slussen Tram station and Södra Bantorget (nowadays Medborgarplatsen) and on street level along Götgatan up to Ringvägen (nowadays Skanstull). The route became a premetro, meaning it was prepared for a subway in the future, and in 1950 the tunnel eventually became part of the subways Green Line.
Time goes by and soon they realize that the design has its shortcomings with regard to the piling work that was done in the 1930s. Some piles had already after 20 years begun to sink into the ground and during the 70s and 80s repair work was done on load-bearing parts of the bridge. The reason for these problems was, among other things, that they’d been plowed down to hard-packed clay and old foundations that remained below ground and not down to the real bedrock. During the 2000s, annual repairs are carried out for several million a year and only during 2003 were 5 tons of concrete was removed which could have caused damage if it had fallen. The Cloverleaf traffic solution went from a pride to concrete colossus in disrepair.
Architectural contest
Already in 2004, an entry is presented for what Nya Slussen might look like, but the construction plan is questioned and finally rejected completely. In 2007, the City of Stockholm decided to have a new architectural competition in which only five invited architectural groups could participate. All entries will try to preserve existing views and create more and better places for people to meet at with generous walking paths and bike lanes. It’s also important that the new solution will better to regulate the water level in Lake Mälaren.
The other four contributions
Nyréns Architectural Office had produced the winning entry in 2004, but was later rejected which led to the new architectural competition. Their new entry had created a large water square with terraces facing Lake Mälaren and also some protruding buildings. On the whole, similar to the winning entry which, after reworking also consist a water square?
Gert Wingårdh’s Architectural Office had an innovative entry where the buildings on Södermalm in particular stood out while the traffic route and the meeting places including the water square reminded of the reworked winning concept. Maybe the building similar to Lego blocks were too innovative?
Bjarke Ingels Group BIG’s entry, in addition to meeting places, also intended to create places to just sit and enjoy the view of the world’s most beautiful capital – Stockholm – from the glass-covered hills. However, the entry also meant that Ryssgården and the house of the City Museum would have had a different design, which may have been a sensitive detail for the jury?
French Atelier Jean Nouvel and Habiter Autrement’s entry was intended to create meeting lines where the Old Town meets Södermalm and where Saltsjön meets Mälaren. With inspiration from Florence’s roofed bridges, not only the new bridge but they’d also have built over the Central Bridge and the subway bridge to create walkways and meeting places for people there. Maybe a to big challenge for the Swede?
Winning Contribution 2008
Foster + Partners and Berg Architectural Office winning entry of origin can be seen below but after various protests much has later been reworked. Above all, the ”star” in the middle has been peeled off while meeting areas have been added. The glass house was removed on the Södermalm side and other buildings along Stadsgården will be completely changed. Was there actually a true winner when the entry in the end was so heavily reworked?
In the final projectplan there’s a square toward Lake Mälaren with quaysides as well as bars and restaurants where people can hang out and open spaces to get between Gamla stan and Södermalm. Terraces on Södermalm will offer the opportunity to overlook Slussen and the Old Town. From the City Museum and Ryssgården, there’ll be an open lane down to the new Katarina Park, which will be located between the Katarina lift and Stadsgården. On the whole a happy ending for the Stockholmer?
The Project
Following various appeals and revisions of the construction plan, the project starts in the autumn 2015 with taking down the functionalist traffic solution and giving the Stockholmers a more open and modern meeting place. One last look at the old cloverleaf traffic solution on a foggy November day 2015 before we say goodbye to the landmark.
The first phase will have the greatest impact on traffic with temporary roadways for motor traffic as well as for cyclists and pedestrians. At the same time, the subway bridge has had extensive renovation work so all this has affected the everyday lives of many Stockholmers for 5 years. As expected when they start digging, archaeological findings also happen that must take their time to investigate and are better presented (only in swedish) here Slussenportalen. Step 1 would’ve been completed in 2019 but will continue until autumn 2020 when the new bridge is expected to be inaugurated. The bridge has been given the official name Slussbron (The Lock Bridge), but is popularly called Guldbron (The Gold Bridge), and the future will reveal what the Stockholmers will say about their new landmark.
At The Lock
The first to be demolished is Kolingsborg, an elliptical building, which was located right in front of the cloverleaf and has housed Port of Stockholm and later became a nightclub and gayclub. Demolition work continued with the pedestrian culverts and the road bridge as well as other parts of roads that won’t be used during the first years of construction. That’s when you really see the challenge that Stockholm and the Stockholmers are facing.
Nothing is as it used to be at Karl Johan’s lock and towards the road to Skeppsbron (along Old Town). Even old Nils Ericson’s lock, which was used for water regulation, has come into the daylight. All substandard material must be removed in order to prepare space for the new Slussbron, which shall fit in here and direct traffic to and from Skeppsbron.
The Golden Bridge
On March 11, 2020, the bridge officially named Slussbron, or The Gold Bridge as it’s called, arrives. For more than two months it’s been traveling on a heavy load carrier, M/S Zhen Hua 33, from China across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, and finally around Europe to the Baltic Sea and Stockholm. An icy wind draws through the city while the Corona virus ravages the world and Stockholm. Therefor there aren’t many people there to see when the bridge arrives at its final destination.
M/S Zhen Hua 33 is specially built to carry heavy loads and yet sensitive structures across the oceans. However, it doesn’t withstand harsh winds and high waves and this’s also the reason why it’s delayed by a month when it arrives to Stockholm. One can understand when you see how the ship is constructed that there can be problems with high waves with a a load of 140 meters and 3 400 tons.
To be sure that the bridge wouldn’t fall off during the long journey, it’s been welded to the ship. Zhen Hua 33 is a special vessel that can be partially submerged in the water and then the bridge floats with the help of pontoons which are welded underneath the bridge. The bridge is towed with the help of tug boats to the wharf of Stadsgården where it waits to be taken to its final location between the Old Town and Södermalm.
At the Katarina Road
The Katarina Road has had extensive demolition work as the street and the old bridge construction underneath have been excavated. This created a hole about 15 meters below compared to the old street level. Here you can also see the entrance to what used to be a parking garage and at the same time an atom-bomb shelter that now will be a underground bus terminal in the rock at Katarina. Down at Stadsgården the old bus terminal is demolished and a temporary bus terminal can be seen next to it from the Katarina elevator.
The Katarina Park
From Katarina Road down to Stadsgården, there was previously a level difference as the old bus terminal was below Katarina Road. In a near future there’ll be a boardwalk from the City Museum across Ryssgården and Katarina Road as well as past the Katarina-elevator to the new Katarina Park which will lead down to a quay walk along the Stadsgården. Before this can become reality, the level difference and all old remains of the cloverleaf must be removed. This means extensive demolition work below the KF house and the Katarina-elevator.
Sjöbergsplan (Sjoberg’s Place)
Most people in Stockholm hardly know that this place is called Sjöbergsplan but many have seen the nine poplars that stood here. Now the poplars are gone and the place disappears from the map. In the future though, this will be the route to the meeting places at Slussen as well as quaysides toward Lake Mälaren.
To be continued….
Conclusion
Unfortunately, it was not an opportunity to take the cost of bringing down most of the traffic path under ground and in this way lift the silhouette of Old Town even more. If they later could’ve got the Central Bridge and the subway bridge down under the water surface, we could’ve had a fantastic silhouette against the Old Town and Södermalm, depending on which side you are on. But you can’t always get everything you want or maybe you can in 100 years?
Picture sources
The older pictures from the project are from exhibitions and own pictures of information signs and pictures that the City of Stockholm and Stockholm City Archives have had at Slussen about its history from the 17th century until today or old archive material. More modern pictures are my own that have been taken continuously during the years the construction project has been going on.
[Source 1] Photographer: Oscar Bladh Date: Early 1930s Published by: Unknown Object ID: Tramway Museum 2196-27b.
[Source 2] Photographer: Oscar Bladh. Date: 1935 Published by: Fotografidatabasen. Object ID: digstad-SSMFA050389S-0
[Source 3] Photographer: Unknown. Date: April 15, 1932 Published by: Unknown. Property ID: Stockholm City Archives SE / SSA / 3319 / Street Office, Metro Delegates / F: 7 B28 LB_SSA_3319_01_016
[Source 4] Photographer: Unknown. Date: 1934 Published by: Unknown. Property ID: 2019-1195. http://sparvagsmuseet.sl.se/Visa?id=44872
[Source 5] Photographer: Unknown. Date: September 3, 1933 Published by: Unknown. Object ID: Stockholm City Archives
SE / SSA / 3319 / Street Office, Metro Delegates / F: 7 L25 LB_SSA_3319_01_090
[Source 6] Photographer: Unknown. Date: August 25, 1933 Published by: Unknown. Object ID: Stockholm City Archives
SE / SSA / 3319 / Street Office, Metro Delegates / F: 7 K95 LB_SSA_3319_01_083
[Source 7] Photographer: Johan Fredriksson. Date: September20, 2014 Published by: Esquilo. Object-ID: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slussen,_flygfoto_2014-09-20.jpg
