In addition, erosion protection may have been deficient. The badder bridge collapsed on May 31st. For the locals, this led to a detour via Finland of over 600 kilometers. A new temporary bridge was opened on 8 June. The preliminary causal analysis of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is now ready. – Even though it does not give all the answers, it is obvious that we could have handled this better, says division director Bjørn Laksforsmo, Norwegian Public Roads Administration Operations and Maintenance. He says that the basis and conditions that were the basis when the bridge was constructed were not easily accessible to the professional community afterwards. – Furthermore, we have not succeeded in identifying and following up the small changes that have occurred over time, and in the end, when it escalated, it went much faster than we were able to respond to. Division director Bjørn Laksforsmo, Norwegian Public Roads Administration Operation and maintenance says that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration could have handled the situation better. Photo: Gunhild Hjermundrud / news The collapse started with spring floods The preliminary conclusion shows that it was probably a coincidence of several factors that led to the incident. It was probably erosion at the bridge pillar that led to the collapse, there is also uncertainty as to whether the pillar was erosion-proof. Inspections prior to the incident had not revealed any damage or defects to the pillar. Therefore, it is also difficult to say how erosion around the pillar developed over time. The spring flood of 2021, which brought with it the old bridge, has probably changed the flow conditions at the bridge. Several in the local community have been concerned about this before the collapse occurred. The changes have probably given unfavorable flow direction towards the pillar which has made it more exposed and increased the erosion around and under the pillar, at the same time as the bottom conditions may have changed. According to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, this started already during the spring flood the year before. – Permanent solution must be in place Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård visited Badderen on Thursday. There he promised that there would be a new bridge on the E6. – A European road has fallen down. Then we can not live with temporary solution. Here we must put in place a permanent solution. He says that it is not the money that is the challenge, but that a thorough assessment must be made of how to build a solid bridge that can also withstand the climate challenges of the future. Minister of Transport and Communications Jon-Ivar Nygård is aware that a permanent solution must be put in place that can withstand climate challenges. Photo: Pål Hansen – And when that planning process is completed, we must get it on our table and make sure that we get allocated money and put in place a new solution. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has started work on controlling similar bridges in Troms and Finnmark. – We have implemented some rapid measures on other bridges that have the same construction principle and are located in flood-prone areas, says Laksforsmo.
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Changed flow conditions probably led to a damaged bridge over the E6 in Badderen – news Troms and Finnmark
