Drammen is a town and municipality in the province of Buskerud in
Viken county. It is located where the Drammensvassdraget empties
into the Drammensfjord. The municipality borders Lier in the
northeast, Holmestrand in the south and Øvre Eiker in the west.
Drammen is located approx. 40 km southwest of Oslo. The municipality
was merged with Nedre Eiker and Svelvik into the new Drammen
municipality from 1 January 2020 and became Norway's 7th largest
municipality in population.
The timber trade in the Drammen
area formed the basis for the growth of the city, which in the 18th
century developed into one of Eastern Norway's most important
maritime and commercial cities; in 1715, the charging stations
Strømsø and Bragernes were each given the status of a market town.
Drammen became part of Buskerud county in 1760 and was later the
administration center in Buskerud county until 2020. In modern
times, Drammen is the center of one of the fastest growing urban
regions in Norway, the Drammen region, which is part of the
metropolitan region around Oslo. fifth largest. The urban buildings
extend far beyond the municipal boundaries; into the municipalities
of Lier, Asker, Øvre Eiker and Holmestrand. The town's total
population is 109,416 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. Drammen
municipality has 100 581 inhabitants after the municipal reform, and
is the seventh largest in the country, by population. About 21
percent of Drammen municipality's population has an immigrant
background.
Drammen is located in a valley at the mouth of the
Drammenselva in the Drammensfjord, hence the name «River town
Drammen». After the end of the last ice age, Drammensdalen got its
current shape, and after 10,000 years of land uplifts, more of the
valley floor has been liberated. Drammen municipality comprises
145.2 km², of which approx. 89.9 km² is forest area, 15.8 km²
agricultural area and 9.5 km² water. The landscape in Drammen is
characterized by dense settlement along the river and the fjord that
extends up the hillsides. Drammen center is located about 2 masl.
Drammensmarka is the forest area northwest of the city that forms
the southeastern part of the larger area Finnemarka. Drammensmarka
and Finnemarka are a popular hiking area with a very well-developed
network of ski trails and hiking trails. In Finnemarka is also Lake
Glitre, which is the main source of drinking water in Drammen. The
highest point in Drammensmarka is Skimten, 553 masl.
At the
top of Strømsåsen on the south side of Drammen is the district
Konnerud surrounded by the forest areas Konnerudmarka,
Mjøndalsskauen and Vestskauen. Southeast of Konnerud, towards the
border with Vestfold, is the district Skoger, which is characterized
by large agricultural areas.
A special nature formation is
Kjøsterudjuvet
The highest point in Drammen municipality is
Trettekollen, 607.3 m a s l.
Geologically, Drammen is
located within the so-called Oslo field. The bedrock in large parts
of the municipality consists of the nutrient-poor red Drammen
granite (Biotite granite). Rhombic porphyry, a volcanic rock, is
otherwise dominant in the municipality, while limestone from the
Cambrian-Silurian period makes its mark on some localities.
Quaternary geologically, Drammen is characterized by a large glacier
that filled the valley for approx. 10,000 years ago and built an end
moraine, the Svelvik moraine, across the Drammensfjord at Svelvik.
The loose masses on the valley floor consist of the bottom moraines
and river deposits, while the valley sides are covered by side
moraines and stone clocks where no solid rock is visible.
Drammen is in the climate zone cold-temperate climate.
The climate type in Drammen is cold and humid, with hot summers.
Drammen is less affected by the Oslo Fjord than Oslo and
therefore has a slightly lower average temperature in winter than
the capital.
The highest temperature measured is 35.0 ° C,
which was measured on August 3, 1982.
Nature and environment
The Drammenselva was for a long time heavily polluted, i.a. of the
industrial enterprises by the river. Factories along the river
released waste products, and the sewage went straight into the river
without treatment. During the 1980s and 1990s, the river was cleaned
and is again one of Norway's best salmon rivers. There are several
parks in the city and also several beaches at Drammenselva. On the
south and north side of Drammen there are large forest areas with
many fishing lakes.
Drammens Sportfiskere is a voluntary
organization that, among other things, releases fish in over 200
waters, in the Drammen area, on a voluntary basis.
Drammen participates in Buskerudbyen, a long-term collaboration on
area, transport and environment between seven partners. Buskerudbyen
receives support from the state reward scheme for better public
transport, increased bicycle use and more pedestrians, and thus no
increase in private car use in the Buskerudby area between Kongsberg
and Lier. Drammen is a hub for communication by both car and train.
The main road network in Drammen
E18 is the main connection
to the cities of Oslo and Vestfold. It passes the city center via a
four-lane high bridge which is Norway's longest. From the E18 in
Lier, take European road 134 (Oslofjord connection) to the E6 at
Vassum in Frogn. County road 282 from Brakerøya to Lyngås in Lier
crosses European road 134 at Amtmannsvingen in Lier municipality.
From the E18, the E134 on the south side of the Drammenselva leads
west to Hokksund and Kongsberg and on to Haugesund. On the north
side, county road 283 goes via the Bragerne tunnel to Mjøndalen. On
the west side of Drammensfjorden, county road 319 goes to Svelvik
and on to Sande in Vestfold. The short distance to Oslo also means
that the city gets more and more commuters. Drammen has an inner
ring road that directs traffic outside the city center. The ring
road goes in a tunnel on the Bragernessiden side and crosses the
river over the Holmen bridges and Øvre Sund bridge. On Strømsø, the
ring road follows county road 282. The ring road is connected to the
E18 on Brakerøya and on Bangeløkka, where the E134 is also
connected.
Railway and public transport
Drammen is an
important railway hub in Norway. Drammen station is the terminus on
the Drammen line and at the same time an important station on the
Vestfold line, the Sørlands line and the Randsfjord line / Bergens
line. Sørlandsbanen and Bergensbanen go west Drammensdalen through
Gulskogen, Mjøndalen and Hokksund, where they separate teams, while
Vestfoldbanen turns south just after Drammen station and goes
through Kobbervikdalen and Skoger towards Vestfold -byene and Skien
/ Porsgrunn. Drammen station is Flytoget's western terminus. Drammen
station was reopened on 15 June 2011 after an extensive rebuild and
refurbishment. The railway bridges over the Drammenselva were partly
rebuilt and extended to two tracks in 1996.
In addition, there are two smaller stations in the city:
Brakerøya station and Gulskogen station.
Brakar serves public
transport in Buskerud and is headquartered in Drammen. The TIME
express route TE1 Notodden-Kongsberg-Drammen-Oslo stops at Bragernes
torg and several other stops. Several other express buses also stop
at Bangeløkka in Drammen.
Port traffic
Drammen is a port
city with access from the outer Oslofjord through Svelviksundet and
up the Drammensfjord. The port of Drammen is a so-called intermodal
hub port, where goods from cars, railways and boats can be reloaded
quickly and cost-effectively. The harbor is a hub in central Eastern
Norway and has a customer base of two million people within a radius
of 100 km. The port of Drammen is one of the main network ports in
Norway and contributes to environmentally friendly transport to and
from the region.
For several decades, Drammen has been
Norway's largest port for car imports, but also larger project
loads, general cargo and bulk cross the port of Drammen today. A
fixed container line with weekly transport to and from central
European ports has been established. The Norwegian Coastal
Administration invested NOK 150 million in upgrading the fairway to
Drammen, to facilitate sea transport to and from the Drammen region,
in 2006.