The proposal to NVE (Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy) is to build a 1.3 kilometer long flood embankment in Nesbyen, which will be at most five meters high. But most of all it looks like a cozy fence. Because security is invisible and underground. This illustration shows the flood embankment “Hælug” outside the center of Nesbyen. Illustration: Landscape architecture firm Henning Larsen Far down the hill The price tag is an estimated NOK 300 million, writes Hallingdølen. – It looks like an ordinary wall, how can it be a flood defence? – It doesn’t have to be stone everywhere, most of it can be an earth mound. It could be 16 meters below, which we don’t see, since we knock down pile walls like that, says regional manager of NVE, Elisabet Rui, to news. Sheet pile walls are a steel structure that is knocked down in connection with larger construction projects. – It can keep the water out and the soil in, says Rui. Elisabet Rui says Nesbyen can be secured for 200 years for NOK 300 million. Photo: Nils Skumsvoll / news Having to move Magnus Brennhovd bought a house in Nebsyen the summer before “Hans” shattered his dreams. He is not very reassured after he was presented with the plans on Wednesday. Magnus Brennhovd bought a house just before the flood hit. Photo: Frida Synnøve Høyås / news – I’m a little confused, considering what happens next. The flood embankment will be a few meters behind the house, but we will just have to see what happens next, he says. Tore Blyverket, on the other hand, has to move. – For Nesbyen, this option is the best. Existing buildings are secured, and nature is not destroyed. – My house is in the middle of the flood embankment, so my house has to be abandoned because of this. Everything has been pointing in that direction for the past year, so I’ve been prepared to sacrifice my house to flood-proof the city center. – What do you think about it? – In many ways fine, but I will lose my house. It hurts. But a kind of relief to get a clarification, even if it has to be approved by the municipality first. Tore Blyverket has acknowledged that he will lose his house. Photo: Frida Synnøve Høyås / news Particularly vulnerable Nesbyen was flooded and paralyzed for the long term after the flood last year. – Will this be enough to protect the city center against a 200-year flood? – Yes, 200 years, plus what we call a climate surcharge, which is an extra security against the possibility that this much water may come even more often. There are just over 3,000 people living in Nesbyen municipality, and two thirds of them in a compact city centre. The settlement is 168 meters above sea level, but not very far above the river. During “Hans”, the city center ended up under water. – Is Nesbyen unique or particularly difficult? – There are a few other places like that in Norway too, but Nesbyen has a fairly large centre, so it is extra exposed. There are two rivers that meet there. But at the same time, it is not that complicated to have a flood embankment erected. Can “spontaneous” next year After the big flood, there has been talk that Nesbyen may be “moved”, and that it will not be possible to build anything new on the flat land below the mountains. NVE believes a flood embankment of 1.3 kilometers can solve the problem. – If we secure the site as we have proposed, Nesbyen can be freely developed further. Then they can build out as they wish, says Rui. The state, through NVE, will take 80-90 per cent of the bill, and then the municipality must spit in the rest. The spade, or sheet pile walls, can be hammered into the ground already in a year. – We have been very keen to get the landscape architects on board early. We can choose the technical solutions, but it’s not so fun to have large sheet pile walls in the city centre, so it’s nice that they have found solutions that look great. Published 18.09.2024, at 19.30 Updated 18.09.2024, at 20.33
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This is how they want to secure Nesbyen against the next major flood – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
