The Norwegian Public Roads Administration hopes to set up a temporary bridge after the existing bridge in Kvænangen municipality in Troms and Finnmark received a “serious search” and traffic over was stopped on Tuesday.
Less than 10 minutes ago
It is now a detour via Finland.
– In the course of two weeks, we hope to have a temporary bridge in place ready for traffic. It is lego on a large scale, it comes in sections, says bridge manager Frode Lyng Hansen in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to VG.
He is in place at Badderelva where the bridge that has received a sinking, crosses. E6 is the main traffic artery that connects Norway, and as operations manager Karl Eirik Thomassen in Troms police district put it: – Norway is now divided into two.
– Most likely it will be a detour for two weeks, says Lyng Hansen.
The detour via Finland makes the normally 381 kilometer long road between Tromsø and Alta, a road of 545 kilometers, according to NTB.
The bridge that failed over the E6 in Troms is from 1986 and the last main inspection was according to bridge manager Lyng Hansen carried out in 2019. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration states that all bridges receive an annual simple inspection while the main inspection, which also takes place under water, is done every five years.
– It was inspected last year, says Frode Lyng Hansen.
– Did it have any comments then?
– No, not as I can see standing on my feet. But we have had the job of removing the old bridge that was directly above and which collapsed during the great spring flood last year. A job was started to remove the bridge that was broken down in the river. It was removed and then the erosion protection was repaired, says the bridge manager.
The old bridge was probably from 1947.
– The violent flood created major changes in the watercourse, says Lyng Hansen. The water was digging out on the side behind the bridge foundation for today’s bridge. Therefore, erosion protection had to be made.
Lyng Hansen says that the contractor temporarily stopped the work with erosion protection when winter came, but that the plan was to complete it all during this year.
– We have inspected the bridge most recently last year and been on site several times and also been on inspection this year. We will have to come back to the reason why it went as it did, possibly during tomorrow. It’s a bit chaotic here, says the bridge manager.
