– I reached up to the roof in the tunnel and it ripped through, says Frank Hansen. The truck driver drives every week to the island municipality of Solund in Vestland. The tunnels there have long been four meters high, which is a problem when most trucks are four meters or higher. – This is the issue that comes up most times in meetings with the business world, says mayor Gunn Åmdal Mongstad (Sp) in Solund. Extreme weather = trouble Jan Ove Halsøy in the truck owners’ association believes they have long since grown out of today’s tunnels. Photo: Brynjar Mangor Myrtveit Osgjerd / news In Norway there are a total of 188 tunnels that are four meters or lower. – It is a huge challenge, says regional manager of the Norwegian Truck Owners Association Jan Ove Halsøy. Recently, a lot of rainfall and extreme weather have made the problem more visible. – We saw it during the storm “Hans” and during the rainy weather at the weekend that county and municipal roads become detours for important national and European roads. Then there will be a traffic jam, says Halsøy. The problem with low tunnels applies not only to county roads, but also to east-west main roads such as Strynefjellet and E134 Haukelifjell. Here, one of the tunnels looks on rv. 15 Strynefjellet, where the trailers must park towards the middle of the road, to avoid the low tunnel roof. Photo: Trond Vestre / news Heavy transport also suffers from too low a roof height on several important main roads. On national road 15 Strynefjellet and E134 above Haukelifjell, measures and funds have been requested from the State Budget for years. In Stryn, the fire chief has threatened to close the tunnels if nothing is done. The extreme weather “Hans” caused major problems on, among other things, E6. Photo: Aleksander Nordengen Brevig / news The settlement in Vestland Of the 188 tunnels that are four meters or lower, 76 of them are in Vestland. Now the county council has taken measures to prevent lorry trains from getting stuck, but not in the most obvious way. The usual thing would be to blow up the tunnel bigger, but this costs a lot of money and takes a long time. Instead, Vestland county council has its eyes down. Here they mill the tunnel 10–15 cm lower. – As our own road administrator, we can make the flexible solutions on roads that it is wise to do it on, says county mayor Jon Askeland and points to the Norwegian Road Administration, which often has the same requirements for national roads as county roads. The work to make the tunnel 10–15 cm lower took only two days. Photo: Arne Stubhaug / news Will take more tunnels In just two days, the lorry drivers who drive to Solund have had a new weekday. – I’m looking forward to driving here next week, says TINE driver Hansen. In Vestland, they are already looking at several tunnels that are too low. – We will take 8-9 tunnels before Christmas, says Askeland. Lorry driver Frank Hansen has scraped the lorry on the roof of the tunnel for the last time when he has to deliver daily necessities to the island municipality. Photo: Håvard Heggen / news
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This is how to solve the problem in 188 tunnels in Norway – news Vestland
