The report was presented at a press conference on Monday at 12. It was the expert group’s Johan Arnt Vatnan from Cajun Management who presented the report, and handed it over to the Norwegian Road Administration. The 1,500 cubic meter landslide occurred on 2 September last year in an area where the new E39 is being built. – The expert group finds a number of weaknesses and shortcomings in the actors – both the Norwegian Public Roads Administration as client and contractor Bertelsen & Garpestad – through various phases of the project, Vatnan said during the press conference. The group believes that the landslide could have been avoided if a number of things had been done differently. The independent expert group visited a few days after the landslide. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Lack of risk analyzes and mapping One house was taken by the landslide, and 85-year-old Bjørg Hendset died in the accident. Six people were sent to hospital, including a two-year-old who was rescued from the house. Shortly after the landslide, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration appointed an independent expert group to investigate the incident – this group has consisted of representatives from, among others, NGI, NVE and NTNU. Already in December, the expert group concluded that it was the roadworks in the area that caused the landslide. They pointed out that the road works had brought water from a nearby stream into the area, which had created an unstable ground. When, on the evening of 2 September, masses of soil were moved from the upper side to the lower side of a construction road, the subsoil could not withstand this load – and the landslide was triggered. The report the expert group is now presenting takes a closer look at the underlying causes and what can be learned from what happened. A few tens of meters above the house that was taken by the landslide, a construction road had been built in connection with the road construction. It is this road that you see in the foreground – in the middle of the picture you see the remains of the house. Photo: Morten Andersen / news The report points, among other things, to a lack of mapping of the ground conditions where the landslide occurred, a lack of risk analyzes and planning, as well as weaknesses in the prerequisites for the road work in terms of resources, experience, expertise and organisation. The expert group also points to a weakness in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s own handbook, which is unclear as to who is actually responsible for carrying out basic investigations. – This may have contributed to the ground conditions not being mapped in time to identify the avalanche danger, said Vatnan. – The industry has something to gain In its report, the expert group also says something about what can be learned from this incident. Among other things, it must be made clearer who is responsible for basic investigations, Vatnan pointed out. There is also a need for systematic risk analyses. Vatnan emphasized that it is not sufficient to only carry out analyzes in the regulatory work, but that this is something that must happen as a minimum in the transition between different phases in a project. This was not done in connection with the road construction in the landslide area. – The analyzes must be comprehensive and include relevant professional expertise, said Vatnan, who, however, praised the risk analysis that has been carried out in the aftermath of the landslide. In addition, the expert group points out that people who are appointed as the client’s representatives and coordinators must have sufficient competence and understand their role and responsibilities. – The building owner’s regulations set some requirements, and these must be assessed and documented. Here there is a delta in how this is practiced today – I believe not only in this project, but in several projects, Vatnan said. – The industry has something to gain by getting better at this. If we are to have zero injuries and incidents, the industry must improve on this point. Johan Arnt Vatnan from Cajun Management has sat in the expert group, and presented the report on Monday. Photo: Ann Eli Nøsen Agree with something, but not everything The expert group also believes that the industry should do better at capturing problems and deviations that arise along the way, and in addition temporary measures must be planned and projected. In the construction of the new E39, the construction road in question was not planned. – Here there is a clear point of improvement, as the group sees it – especially those who have experience from the industry. It was development director Kjell Inge Davik in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration who accepted the report. – This is extensive and important work. There are learning points here, not only for this project, but for both us and several builders. Not least when it comes to preventing injuries, he said. – The Norwegian Public Roads Administration will concretize this and continue to use the resources in the expert group for advice in order to improve. We obviously completely agree with some of what they say, while we may disagree with some of it. But when such terrible events happen, we have to learn from it. Development director in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Kjell Inge Davik. Photo: Jon Bolstad / news Thought people should not have been in the house The road work was put on hold as a result of the landslide, but resumed as early as the following Monday. Then with increased geotechnical expertise and with new risk assessments as a basis. In planning work and risk analyzes in advance of the road work, there was no pronounced risk of landslides in the area, and NVE has not marked danger zones there either. In geotechnical reports from 2014 and 2020, however, further drilling and test excavations in the area were recommended, in order to get a better assessment of the stability of the ground. An entire house was smashed by the avalanche masses. Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / news The Norwegian Public Roads Administration was able to confirm shortly after the landslide that additional ground investigations of this kind had been planned, but that no drilling had been done exactly in the landslide area at the time. Changes in water conditions in the area were also pointed out after the landslide. A geologist also told news that frequent periods of rainfall lead to an increased risk of landslides, and that this is something that must be taken into account in excavations. The geologist believed that the people should never have been in the house. Any criminal consequences are for the police to assess. The incident is still under investigation.
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The expert group after the landslide at Henset in Heim presents a report on causes and learning points – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
