– My attitude is crystal clear. The state will foot the entire bill, since it was they who built the bridge. That’s what the newly elected county mayor in Innlandet, Thomas Breen, says. Breen and the political leadership in Innlandet County Municipality believe that the state has already spent a long time dealing with the case. Therefore, the county mayor has written a letter to the Minister for Transport and asks for speed and a meeting. If the state does not pick up the bill, the road to the courtroom is short. PROGRESS IS REQUIRED: County Mayor Thomas Breen wants clarification on who will pay for the Tretten bridge. Photo: Jenny Marie Sveen / news Tretten bridge collapsed on 15 August 2022. No one died in the accident, but both a truck and a car were on the bridge when it collapsed. A few minutes before the collapse, a bus drove over the bridge. It was full of school children. – Our bridges must be safe, and therefore it is important that we get to the bottom of what went wrong before the collapse of the Tretten bridge, says Tom Kalsås, who is State Secretary (Ap) in the Ministry of Transport. For the time being, he will not say anything about who will foot the bill. – The bridge should have been closed Already in 2012, according to the county mayor, a report was ready which showed that the bridge at Tretten should not be built. The report was prepared by Norconsult. In 2016, another wooden bridge in Gudbrandsdalen also collapsed, namely the Perkolo bridge in Nord-Fron. It was of the same construction as the bridge on Tretten. LUCK: No one lost their lives when the bridge at Tretten collapsed. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news The county mayor believes the conclusion must be obvious: – In 2016, it was learned that the bridge does not measure up. They then give it away to the county council without saying anything about this information. Here, the state has not done what it should have done, namely to ensure that the bridge was not used. For that reason, Breen believes the state must take all and full responsibility. – They had many opportunities to prevent the bridge from falling into the river. When they didn’t take that responsibility, they have to take the cost afterwards. If not, the county council threatens to take the State to court. – Do you think it will go that far? – I do not hope so. That is why I am now asking for a meeting with both the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Local Government, says Breen. He says it is difficult for the county council to have unresolved costs of 420 million in the budget. Therefore, more speed is needed in the process. Kolsås says that the costs for the county councils in connection with the utility collapse and the subsequent closures are and will be large. MUST GET CLARITY: Tom Kalsås, who is state secretary (Ap) in the Ministry of Transport, says that the county councils and those who use the bridge must get clarity on what went wrong, and whether this could have been avoided. Photo: Stortinget – I am considering this side of the matter together with the Norwegian Road Administration and the affected county councils. The Minister of Transport has already met with Innlandet County Council for several meetings on the topic and a new meeting has been arranged, says Kalsås. Do not criticize your own government Thomas Breen believes that this case is more about law than politics, and points out that it was the previous government that was responsible in 2016, although he also does not think that the politicians in that government knew about the case. It’s tile nailing anyway. The bridge is in the river. Someone has to pick up the bill. And someone, must be the State, says Breen. – As far as possible lawsuits are concerned, this is not something they want to speculate on at this stage because the investigations by the Accident Investigation Board and the Norwegian Road Administration are still ongoing, says Kalsås.
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Demands that the state pays for Tretten bridge – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
