On county road 55 in Vestland, along the north side of the Sognefjord, lies the Høyanger tunnel. A whopping 7.6 kilometers long and 4.4 meters high, according to the sign on the outside. But the tunnel is not 4.4 meters high everywhere. Several trailer drivers have experienced this at great cost. Now, eight years after the tunnel was upgraded for 235 million, Vestland County feels compelled to do something. Damage in the ten thousand kroner class – The tunnel has become very good, but there is still one point on the Høyanger side that is not high enough, says Per Andreas Øren. As the day-to-day manager of the transport company Per A. Øren AS, with its main base close to the Høyanger Tunnel, he has a good knowledge of the problem. Several of his wagon trains have missed the point. – I have experienced that a few times over the years. It is easy for there to be major damage, which is in the range of several tens of thousands of kroner to fix again. He does not know exactly how low the point is. But he is sure that it is lower than 4.2 metres. It is precisely the height of their wagon train. The point is slightly to the side, so that you miss it if you follow the road markings. This is bad news for traffic safety in a narrow tunnel like the Høyanger tunnel, Øren believes. – Those of us who are familiar with the problem are careful when we come out of the tunnel, but if strangers come here at 80 kilometers an hour and hit another big one, then there is no room for both of them. The stripes along the tunnel wall in the Høyanger tunnel speak clearly about close contact with freight trains. In this bend, the sloping tunnel wall protruded too far into the roadway. Photo: Lars Jonas Pedersen The sign with 4.4 meters – 4.2 is the new target Øren says they have been waiting a long time for something to be done about the tunnel height. – It has been announced in various contexts for several years. The tunnel was rehabilitated in 2016, so it is crazy to have to go through it again. But it is not such a large area, and means so much, he says. There is still a sign warning lorry drivers that you can be 4.4 meters high here. But if someone comes with such a tall car and holds the side, things go wrong. The sign will be changed to 4.2 metres, Photo: Lars Jonas Pedersen Perhaps the wait will soon be over. Vestland county has heard them. – This is very serious. It is not the way it should be. Here we are forced to take measures, says director of infrastructure and roads in Vestland county municipality, Dina Lefdal. – We have received questions from the trucking industry about checking the height in the Høyanger tunnel. We have carried out control measurements in a couple of rounds, and it turns out that he is lower than he should be. – How much lower? – It is marked with a height of 4.4 metres, and I am trying to take measures to get him up to 4.2, she says. – When I say that we have to take measures to get it to 4.2 instead of 4.4, you understand that here it is significantly lower than what it should be. King Olav had the honor of opening the Høyanger tunnel, which was then Norway’s longest tunnel, in 1982. How the tunnel suddenly became too low, no one knows. Photo: Gerhard Haugland / Sogn Avis Don’t know how the tunnel got so low The tunnel was upgraded for 235 million in 2016, and was then supposed to be 4.4 meters high. Why he is now too low, they don’t know. – We are looking for a cause, but are equally concerned with what measures we should take to get something done about it, says Lefdal. They have not decided exactly what the measures will be. – We imagine that we may have to saw a bit in the mountain, and perhaps move the whitewash strip somewhat, without thereby making the road too narrow. Arve Helle (Ap), who heads the main committee for transport in Vestland, says they are now working to unravel why the reports that the tunnel was dangerous have not reached the road administration and been addressed. He says they will now look at measures. – It must happen quickly. This is unfortunate, states Helle. Published 19.10.2024, at 20.57
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Upgraded tunnel for 235 million in line with EU directive – now the Høyanger tunnel is too low – news Vestland
