– No one should be hit by the rockfall. We had listening posts outside, traffic conductors who have been keeping watch. There has been extra preparedness due to the weather, with a lot of wind and heavy rainfall. It was the listening posts that announced that the road had to be closed, says traffic operator Ronny Sleire at the Swedish Road Traffic Center in the Norwegian Road Administration.
The Swedish Road Traffic Center now reports that highway 13 between Odda and Hardangerbrua will be closed until Wednesday.
1000 cubic meters of stone last week
The landslide occurred between the Okslatunnel and the Stanatunnel, in exactly the same place where a large rockfall occurred on Tuesday last week.
Then more than 1,000 cubic meters of rock came down, as well as avalanche protection, trees and car guardrails, and witnesses characterized it as pig’s luck that no lives were lost.
The rockfall itself then was around 600 cubic meters and fell from a height of 470 metres.
– Now three stones and one rather large stone have come down, says Sleire.
Detour via ferry lines
According to all signs, today’s slide has a connection with the previous one, and the site of the slide will now be investigated.
– The road is closed and will probably be closed for a long time, says Sleire.
A geologist has been called in and will check the situation on the mountainside before it becomes necessary to open again.
National highway 13 is the main road along the Hardangerfjord and connects, among other things, Hardangerbrua with Odda. The road closure causes major problems for traffic in the area.
The Swedish Road Traffic Center recommends the following detour options to Odda:
- Ferry Kinsarvik – Utne
- Ferry Tørvikbygd – Jondal
- Ferry Gjermundshamn – Årsnes
Mayor: – Can’t have it that way
The mayor of Ullensvang, Roald Aga Haug (Ap) from Odda, despairs that there has once again been a landslide on the very busy and important road.
– This is dramatic. If one is unlucky, the stone can quickly hit a car or a bus. We can’t have it like this. This is one of the few places where there is a yellow center strip and a wide road, but the tunnel comes out in the middle of a landslide area. Here we have to get permanent safeguards in place, says Haug.
The municipality already had a contingency plan ready after the previous landslide, which is already in the process of being implemented. An emergency site must be in place within a short time. An ambulance has been stationed on either side of the slide, and according to the mayor, the emergency services are taken care of.
– Fortunately, we have been somewhat prepared, since we knew that there could be new landslides. Now we have to hope the geologists find out that it is safe, says Haug.