On Monday morning, the Tretten bridge in Gudbrandsdalen collapsed. On the bridge there was a car and a truck – with one person in each vehicle. Fortunately, both escaped the incident without a scratch. Anita Bakken lives at Tretten. She has experienced abnormal movements in the bridge when there have been lorries on it with her. – There has been a kind of rocking in the bridge recently, which has not been there before. She says that several people have noticed the same thing. Both those who have walked, cycled or driven over the bridge and encountered heavier vehicles. news has also spoken to several people who say they have experienced abnormal movements. How could that happen? Prosecutor Hans Petter Ommedal in the Innlandet police district says that this is something they are investigating now. INVESTIGATING: Prosecutor Hans Petter Ommedal says that they are now investigating how the bridge could collapse. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news He confirms that there has been a lot of traffic on the bridge recently. Now they are investigating, among other things, sounds that should have come from the bridge in the time before it collapsed. – The police are very interested in finding out, for example, sounds leading to a possible break-in. For the police, it is now extremely important to find out how a bridge that was built ten years ago could collapse. Norwegian bridges are designed with a lifespan of 100 years. The bridge has also been thoroughly inspected in recent years, and the last inspection of the bridge was in June. Thirteen bridge Thirteen bridge collapsed on the morning of 15 August 2022. A car and a truck were on the bridge. The bridge was opened on 15 June 2012. The bridge replaced the old steel truss bridge from 1895 at the same location. The new bridge was a wooden truss bridge with two lanes and a pavement. Thirteen bridges carried county road 254 over Gudbrandsdalslågen and the E6. The bridge had a width of 10 metres. The main span was 70 metres, in total the bridge was 148 meters long. The bridge was of the same type of construction as the Perkolo bridge at Sjoa which collapsed in February 2016. Thirteen bridges are classified in the road lists as a BK (use class) 10–60 road. That means 10 tonnes of axle pressure and 60 tonnes of total weight. Police attorney Ommedal says that it is demanding work to find out how the bridge could collapse after only ten years. – It is the NOK 1,000 question that we are trying to find out, he says. Faults on similar bridges The Swedish Road Administration found a fault on the now collapsed Tretten bridge during an inspection in 2016. The inspection was initiated after the Perkolo bridge in Sjoa collapsed. It is made in the same way as Tretten bru. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration states that the Tretten bridge was last inspected on 3 June this year. Nothing was found that led to the bridge being declared dangerous to traffic. Three points were found that needed maintenance, but the deadline for the work is set for 31 December 2024. The report points out that there was nothing wrong in building Tretten bru according to the requirements of the old regulations, even if a new one had been introduced. Visual inspection Head of Transport in Inlandet, Aud M. Riseng, says that the inspection of Tretten bridge in June was carried out according to the guidelines of the Road Directorate. It was a visual inspection, meaning they get to uncover what they see. – It is often when you discover things, she says to news. UNKNOWN: Transport manager Aud Riseng is not aware that there have been abnormal movements in the bridge. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news She says it is shocking and incomprehensible that the bridge collapsed just two months later. – Finding the answer to why is a big job. Riseng is not aware that there should have been abnormal movements in the bridge in the time before the collapse. – There will always be movements in a bridge, but if unusual movements had been reported I would have known about it, she says. She is also not aware that there are supposed to have been sounds coming from the bridge, as witnesses have told news, and which the police are now investigating. – If there is someone who has such information, it is very important that we or the police find out about it. Company has set up emergency staff Moelven Limtre AS has supplied glulam to just over 200 bridges over the past 30 years, including Tretten bridge. The now collapsed bridge is one of the largest bridges that the company has been involved in building. Rune Abrahamsen, managing director of Moelven Limtre, states that they have set up an internal crisis team, and that they have made their people available to find out what is the cause of the collapse. CRISIS STAFF: Rune Abrahamsen in Moelven Limtre AS says that they have set up an internal crisis staff. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news – We are now going through what we have delivered and done in connection with the Tretten bridge. We build and deliver what we have been asked for and others have taken care of the calculations. As of now, we cannot see anything that should have been done differently, says Abrahamsen. – It is surprising that the bridge is completely collapsing and that there has been no warning, he adds. Although two wooden bridges have now collapsed in a short space of time, he is not worried about the future of the use of wood as a material in bridges. – I think it is right and important to build in wood. It is suitable, and they must be built according to the same basic regulations to ensure that it is safe. We feel confident that wooden bridges are safe, he says. HEAVY TRAFFIC: There was a lot of traffic on the bridge in the time before it collapsed. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news – Fortunately, no one was injured It was Plan arkitekter AS in Trondheim who designed the bridge on Tretten. Managing director Oddmund Engh writes in an SMS to news that they have no comments or rely on different information than other players. They also do not want to speculate on the cause as that must be revealed by the investigations that have been initiated. – We are only responsible for design and form in an early phase. It is tragic that the beautiful bridge has collapsed, but fortunately no one was injured, writes Oddmund Engh.
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Anita Bakken reacted to abnormal movements in the Tretten bridge before the collapse – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
