– This building wing is a fire trap. There are no fire doors, the walls are like cardboard, it drafts both from below and above, and in winter the snow settles in ridges along the walls – so that all the windows are blocked. Sissel Mangersnes stands in a narrow corridor in the station building at Jan Mayen. The station is operated by the Norwegian Armed Forces, and Mangersnes is the station manager. Minister of Defense Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) and Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen are visiting, who will describe how bad conditions are at the station. Station commander Sissel Mangersnes receives defense chief Eirik Kristoffersen and defense minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) at Jan Mayen. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news – The only evacuation route is up in the attic, continues Mangersnes, – but there is full of asbestos, so it is a prohibited area. Only meant to stand for ten years Jan Mayen is a small volcanic and very weather-exposed island far out in the Norwegian Sea. Since 1930, the island has been part of the Kingdom of Norway, and 18 people work here for six months at a time – employed either by the Meteorological Institute or the Norwegian Armed Forces. Jan Mayen is approximately 1,000 kilometers from mainland Norway, and is the only part of Norwegian territory with volcanic activity. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – There are rich fishery resources around the island, and Jan Mayen is important for collecting weather data and for satellite communication and navigation, says Defense Minister Gram. – We need to have a presence and claim sovereignty over this part of Norway. – The building stock is old and does not meet the requirements for people to live here for six months at a time, so we need to invest in new facilities for those who work here for Norway, says Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp). Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news But the station, which was built in the 60s at Jan Mayen, has not stood the test of time particularly well – which is perhaps not so surprising. – The building that stands here was built to stand for ten years, says project manager Randi-Grethe Pedersen in Forsvarsbygg. – Then it has been patched up, and it still stands in a way. But it is high time for major improvements – rather to demolish most of the existing building, and replace it with something new and more solid. – There are limits to how long you can maintain such an old building, says station manager Sissel Mangersnes. The station at Jan Mayen was built in the 60s and has probably seen better days. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Strategically important In addition to poor fire safety and the fact that the building is full of asbestos, the station is poorly insulated in terms of the winter cold. And the building does not exactly meet requirements for universal design. – If you have to carry someone into the infirmary, you go through narrow corridors where you have to tip the stretcher to get in, explains Mangersnes. Station manager Sissel Mangersnes says most people are most looking forward to having new premises to work in. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news In addition, today’s buildings stand on pillars, which can be compared to good, old-fashioned wooden telephone poles. These have not been so permanent in the face of the brutal weather conditions, so that the building has simply sunk in a number of places and left large gaps under the roof and along the floor. – Everything that is under construction today is rotten, says Pedersen in Forsvarsbygg. It is Forsvarsbygg that has been commissioned to design and build a new main building at Jan Mayen. These days, a preliminary project must be submitted to the Ministry of Defence, which in turn will allocate money. – This is Norwegian territory out at sea, and it is a strategically important location. That is why we are going to invest in a new building here and new infrastructure that will enable us to continue to be present at Jan Mayen, says Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen. – The need is obviously present, and now there is a project which means that we will hopefully be on target with a new building by 2027, says Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Expert help from Iceland The hope is to start work next autumn and that the building will be ready in 2027. The first thing that needs to be done is to ensure a stable foundation wall. – There will be extensive foundation work due to the strong earthquakes at Jan Mayen, says project manager Pedersen. – We have with us consulting engineers from Iceland, where they are used to volcanic activity and earthquakes. They have expertise in what is needed for the building to withstand the forces it is exposed to. Once the foundation is laid, a larger building will be erected – consisting of thicker walls, more insulation, and over two floors instead of one. This is how the station looks at Jan Mayen now and how it could look like. Photo/illustration: Silje Wennesland / Forsvarsbygg – The building will cover all functions in society. Dormitories to live in, kitchen and mess, room for leisure, workshop and offices. All in one building. The reason for that is the extreme weather conditions, and in one building they can go indoors for everything they need, explains Pedersen. – The building will also be sectioned, so if one wing were to burn, the rest of the building will stand. And all living rooms must be on the second floor, because then you will come across the snow that settles around the building, so that you can possibly evacuate from there. Randi-Grethe Pedersen is project manager at Forsvarsbygg, and says it is a large and complex job to build in such a desolate and remote place as Jan Mayen. Photo: Rune Nilsson / Forsvarsbygg Expensive project It is not yet clear how much it will cost to build a new station at Jan Mayen. Project manager Pedersen does not believe that it will be as expensive as the two billion new construction at Troll in Antarctica is estimated at – but there are significant costs in building at Jan Mayen, she says. After all, the island is almost 1,000 kilometers from mainland Norway, and there are enormous logistics involved when all equipment and personnel are to be transported there by boat and plane on the island, where there is also no dock. Everything going to Jan Mayen must be transported by plane or boat. Here are the goods that were on the plane when news visited Jan Mayen together with the defense chief and the defense minister. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news – There are no Byggmakkers on the corner up there, so to speak, says Pedersen. – At Jan Mayen, you basically have nothing – no vehicles and machines, no cranes, no concrete, no asphalt, no buildings to house the contractors – we have to take everything with us. A long winter on the island also leaves only a short window in the summer to do work outdoors, so here everything has to be planned down to the smallest detail. – We also have to have a plan B all the time, because a lot can happen in a place like that. But I think that completion in 2027 is realistic.
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The station building at Jan Mayen is in a poor condition – planning a new building for 2027 – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
