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World's largest single-arched bridge opens

The monarchs of Norway and Sweden opened a new bridge between their countries on Friday.
NORWAY SWEDEN SVINESUND BRIDGE
The Svinesund bridge, which spans the Iddefjord and links Norway and Sweden, is shown in this February 2005 photo.Lise Aserud / EPA via Sipa Press file
/ Source: The Associated Press

The Norwegian and Swedish monarchs opened a new bridge between their countries Friday.

King Harald V of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden met with great fanfare in the middle of the Svinesund bridge spanning a fjord south of Oslo.

Harald called the 2,300-foot-long bridge “a strong symbol of the unity between the brother nations.”

NORWAY - SWEDEN BORDER
From left, Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf, Norwegian King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit on the Svinesund bridge linking Sweden and Norway, Friday June 10, 2005. The Swedish and Norwegian Royal families and a number of other dignitaries officiated at the opening of the new Svinesund bridge on the border between Norway and Sweden. The new 4-lane bridge, which has been three years in the making, replaces the previous narrow bridge which was opened 59 years ago by the present kings' grandfathers. (AP Photo/Scanpix, Bjorn Sigurdson) ** NORWAY OUT **Bjorn Sigurdson / SCANPIX

Norway is celebrating 100 years of independence from Sweden, which dominated a union between the two countries until 1905.

The two monarchs unveiled a stone monument of two hands extending toward each other, and shook hands themselves amid applause from a crowd of dignitaries and business leaders.

The new bridge, billed as the world’s largest single-arched bridge, is meant to ease car traffic between the countries. About 15,000 cars cross the fjord every day.