This must be another one of the most-seen bridges in Iceland. It spans the outfall river from the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, and carries the island's ring road, route R1. You can't drive along the south coast of Iceland without eventually passing over this bridge.
The hengibrú (suspension bridge) was built in 1966-7, and has a main span of 108m. A ferry operated here from 1932, but before that the river was very difficult to cross.I believe this was one of the last of a series of suspension bridges built in Iceland starting in 1945, and there are obvious similarities to the bridge over Jökulsá á Fjöllum that I featured previously, even though that is 20 years older.
When the bridge was built, the glacier Breiðamerkurjökull extended much closer to the highway. The glacier lagoon has grown steadily as the glacier has retreated, some 5.6km in the last century. This location, hugely popular with tourists, will at some point likely become the mouth of a new fjord, with the extent depending on how successfully global warming is tackled. Although efforts have been made to protect the foundations of the bridge against scour, it's lifetime may be limited.
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