Several roads are still closed after the ravages of extreme weather “Jakob”. National highway 7 in Eidfjord opens on Monday at the earliest after a landslide over the Erdal bridge. The municipality, which lies furthest east in Hardanger, thus only has a clear road towards Hardangervidda and Austlandet. Odda in Hardanger was completely isolated for a long time, after all three roads in and out of the town were closed. Now the last obstacle along the fjord has also been removed. It is still unknown when the road can open. – It will take a few more hours before we get a proper on-ramp and the like in place. We cannot estimate a time for when the road can be opened to traffic. The operating contractor is working on this now, says construction manager Amira Popovic in Vestland county municipality to news at 12 o’clock. The work started on Friday evening after the bridge was crushed by high water levels. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s bridge preparation team has been in place in Ullensvang throughout the weekend to get the intermediate bridge in place as quickly as possible. The work started on Friday evening after the bridge was crushed by high water levels. On the night of Sunday, just before 05:00, the contractor had finished removing the last destroyed remains of the Edna bridge And around 11:00 the last plate in the bridge was in place. Three people from the bridge emergency unit in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration took part in the installation last night. A crane truck and Photo: Vestland County Council Requests permanent emergency boat in Hardanger Ullensvang mayor Roald Aga Haug (Ap) is relieved that the road can soon be opened again after such a short time. – I have received many questions from many people who live on the south side and who are going to work in Odda, about when the road opens. This is extremely important to us, Haug asserts. LONG EXPERIENCE: Roald Aga Haug (Ap) has no count of how many times he and Ullensvang municipality have seen emergency staff in recent years. Photo: Tale Hauso / news He is the mayor of the municipality which is probably most often affected by landslides and closed roads. This time the municipality quickly set up a boat route to transport healthcare personnel and others with critical community jobs. But time and time again it proves difficult to get larger passenger boats in place that can transport all the residents who need it. – This is a very important commuter road with several hundred people commuting each way. So in order to staff companies and healthcare institutions, it is very important that such solutions are put in place quickly. Not least for fire safety and preparedness. Now he wants to advocate for Sørfjorden to deploy a permanent emergency boat. – One would almost wish that it was “boat for road” in such cases, that there was a system in place. We must prioritize health and safety in such cases, and then there is not always room for so many others. Now such incidents happen so often here, and it is vulnerable. WET: After heavy rain during the night to Sunday, the river was still large, and the flow high when the work was carried out. That made the work extra challenging. Photo: Vestland County Council It is expected that the bridge can be opened during the day. Barely three days after the bridge broke and plunged into the burgeoning river. – I would like to thank everyone involved who has stood the whole weekend to get the intermediate bridge in place and the road reopened as quickly as possible, says department director for infrastructure and roads in Vestland county municipality Dina Lefdal. Lefdal says it is too early to say anything about how much the work has cost. – The focus has been to get the road open again. READY SOON: There are still ramps and some security measures needed before the road at Edna can open. Photo: Vestland county municipality Transport the bridge by ferry After heavy rain last night, the river is still big, and the flow is high. This has made the work extra challenging. In order to have the bridge installed, the bridge emergency department had to apply for a special permit for transport. After taking measurements on Friday evening, they found out that the bridge could not be transported from the Odda side due to access problems. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Vestland county council had meetings on Saturday morning, and the application to transport the bridge by ferry from the opposite side was sent and granted. The maximum permissible weight on the bridge will be reduced, after assessment by the bridge manager and geotechnician, who also want more measurements of the ground. Published 03.11.2024, at 12.29 Updated 03.11.2024, at 12:38 p.m
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