Skeiðara (Skeidara) bridge
Skeiðara (Skeidara) bridge
On road 1, there is an 880m long bridge, Iceland’s longest, over the river Skeidara. In 1974 Iceland’s road 1, was completed when this large and powerful glacial river was bridged, a river prone to tremendous surges during which ice can be carried out onto the sands.
The building of the bridge was considered an engineering wonder but in 1996, during a glacial flood following a volcanic eruption under Vatnajokull, the bridge was severely damaged by floating ice blocks the size of houses. After being rebuilt on a slightly different course, it was 24m shorter than its original 904m.
This was a huge, mighty river but today is just a trickle. A few years back, Skeidara changed the course up near the glacier and its water now flows with Gigjukvisl, a river to the west.
Enjoy the great view over to Skaftafell and Hvannadalshnjukur, Iceland´s highest peak at 2110m. Nearby is a lay-by where twisted, rusty iron from the damaged bridge provides an interesting photo stop and the sign explains what happened here some years ago.