The floating section is a steel box girder bridge with ten pontoons, which because of the fjord's depth are not laterally anchored.

The pontoons and the cable-stayed bridge are built in concrete, with the main span being supported with 48 cables.

The fjord end of the main span is supported by a 30-meter (98 ft) deep foundation, where the two bridges meet.

The bridge carries two lanes of European Route E39, also called the Coastal Highway, and one pedestrian and bicycle path, and connects the district of Nordhordland to Bergen.

The cable-stayed bridge consists of a 99.3-meter (326 ft) tall H-pylon with a foundation at Klauvaneset on the mainland of Bergen.

Vertical pretension rock anchors have also been installed, with 12 at Klauvaskallen and 14 at Flatøy, giving 42 and 44 meganewtons (9,400,000 and 9,900,000 lbf) of support, although they were only built to increase the safety factor.

Two full bulkheads have been used for every pontoon pilaster, made from welded steel plates 8 to 50 millimeters (0.31 to 1.97 in) thick.

The girder was built in sections of 21, 36, and 42 meters (69, 118, and 138 ft), which were subsequently welded together into 11 modules with a skew angle of 1.2 to 1.3 degrees.

The section from the land anchoring to the first pontoon is subject to the most stress, and is made with steel with a higher yield point.

It consists of spans between 18 and 33 meters (59 and 108 ft), with the roadway also built as an orthotropic deck with 12-millimeter (0.47 in) thick plates.

On the cable-stayed section, the bridge is marked with navigation lights, as well as the center of the sailing area having a racon.

[5] A car ferry service between Isdalstø in Lindås and Steinestø in Åsane on the mainland was established on 7 July 1936.

[7] This allowed the Alversund Bridge to open in 1958, and the ferry service from Flatøy and Meland to move to Knarvik.

The depth and steepness of the fjord would make it impossible to fasten the bridge to the sea bottom.

[10] Prosjektering and Sverdrup & Parcel recommended a pontoon bridge with a movable section to allow passage of ship traffic.

By 1968, the debt would be paid off, but the Norwegian Public Roads Administration launched a plan whereby the tolls would continue to be collected and used to finance a bridge across Salhusfjorden.

This was opposed by a group of locals, who brought the issue to the courts, claiming it to be illegal, as a bridge would never be built.

Protests were also raised against the use of a pontoon bridge, as it would limit the vessel size and thus the commercial development in the inner parts of the fjord.

This was passed by the Parliament of Norway in May 1975, and consisted of the Krossnessundet Bridge between Flatøy and Meland, which opened in November 1978.

The plans for a pontoon bridge were presented to the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications on 31 March 1981.

[14] Detailed planning started in March 1990, and at first two technical methods for constructing the pontoon bridge were considered: a continuous concrete floating caisson between the abutments, and a steel version incorporating a truss bridge carrying concrete pontoons.

[2] Design of the bridge was awarded to Aas-Jakobsen and Det Norske Veritas, the former who also performed dynamic analysis and structural engineering.

The choice of a box girder bridge and the orthotropic deck were chosen because it gave the lower material use.

[17] The contract for construction of the pontoon bridge was awarded in August 1991 to a consortium, Arbeidsfellesskapet Salhus Bru, which consisted of Norwegian Contractors, Aker Entreprenør, Veidekke and Kværner Eureka.

The components were built in Moss and Fredrikstad and then shipped to Lonevågen, a branch of Osterfjorden which was suitable to connect the parts.

There were problems welding the high-strength low-alloy steel, which resulted in the work being halted for several days before an agreement was reached between the contractor and the Public Roads Administration.

As the bridge had the longest laterally unsupported span in the world, the construction was watched by many international delegations.

In addition, Kværner had to pay the administration NOK 19.5 million in penalties for overrunning the contract date.