On Monday, the Tretten Bridge collapsed in Gutbrandsthalen. On Tuesday, it was decided that 14 wooden bridges will be closed if the cause is found. – Now you really don’t know anything says the Minister of Transport.
Tretten bro is located at 254 County Road in Tretten. The bridge collapsed on the E6, which remains closed after the accident.
The cause of the bridge collapse is still unknown. So Norway’s Public Roads Administration has decided to close 14 wooden truss bridges, and the reason is clear.
They write in a press release.
Road director Ingrid Dahl Hovland tells VG that the 14 bridges are closed because they are the same bridge type as the Tretton Bridge.
– It’s about protecting us with the bridges that are now in the same category, and we’re investigating the safety and security that we should have at all times, Hovland tells VG.
She describes the incident at Tretton as serious.
– We need to know more about it. Traffic closures are important to ensure the safety and security we need across the entire road network.
All 13 bridges will be closed, as well as the Shooting Range Bridge at Crane in Nordland.
Transport Minister Jan-Iver Nygaard (AP) confirmed to VG that the cause of the bridge collapse in Treton is still unknown.
– I don’t know any concrete information about the cause. Now we don’t know anything about it, says Nygaard.
– Why are these bridges closed?
– What the National Roads Authority, together with the county councils, have now assessed is that they are completely in the dark as to the cause of the collapse of the bridge at Tretton after a day and a half.
14 Bridges have no definite danger
On Monday, the Transport Minister visited Tretton after the bridge collapsed. Back then, there was no plan to close such bridges.
– Why weren’t these bridges closed yesterday?
– Professional authorities make regular assessments. Yesterday they did not have this estimate, but a hypothesis that the cause of the collapse should be found soon, Transport Minister V.G.
– What new information is behind this closure?
– Norway’s Public Roads Administration says they prefer a precautionary strategy because they don’t know exactly what the cause is. Now these bridges are closed for safety reasons so that the bridges can be re-mapped before re-opening to traffic.
– So there is no concrete danger on these bridges?
– That’s right. There is no concrete evidence of this type of weakness in these bridges.
It is not known how long they will be closed
Transport Minister Nygård informs VG that the bridges will be closed soon, but there won’t be any physical closures until tomorrow morning.
– Can more bridges be closed?
– There is no information about this yet.
– How long can bridges be expected to be closed?
– We are not able to give an exact reference for that now. This may take some time, which is why we have asked the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to see what mitigation measures can be implemented.
Alternative bridge solutions may be appropriate, says Nygård.
– We understand that this can be demanding for the local community and of course for those who rely on the roads in question, he says.
– What effects will this have?
– It varies from place to place. In some places traffic can be managed well with good detours, while in other places it is more demanding.
Truck and car on bridge
A truck and a car were on the bridge when the bridge collapsed. The driver of the lorry was taken off the lorry by air ambulance and taken to hospital.
The driver got out on his own and was not injured.
Tretten bro was completed in 2012 and replaced the old Tretten bro from 1895 which had only one lane. The new bridge is made of glulam and has a similar construction to the Pergolo Bridge. It collapsed in 2016.
The Norwegian Road Administration had responsibility for the bridge until 2020, when it was transferred to the county council.
Mari (24) who was in the car when the bridge collapsed :- I had an angel guard
Demolition will begin on Wednesday
Innlandet County Council says in a press release that they will start demolition work on Tretten bro on Wednesday morning.
The first step is to evacuate the vehicles still stuck on the bridge.
Ad Riseng, transportation manager at Inlandate, said it’s hard to say how long the process will take.
– We have used this day to carry out thorough safety assessments with a team of experts with good expertise in bridge, construction and demolition work. “We now have a good plan for how we can do the job safely,” he says.
Suggested remedy
In 2016 The Bergolo bridge collapsed. Both Tretton and Pergolo bridges are made of glulam and have similar construction.
There are 11 bridges made of glulam in Norway. Six years ago, they were all closed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to investigate the Bergolo collapse.
This prompted the Directorate of Roads to come up with proposals to improve, among others, Tretton Bro:
“Initially it is recommended to consider strengthening some junctions at the Blackisrut Bridge and the Tretton Bridge. There are no design errors here, but the protection against some of the brittle fracture mechanisms that were previously implicitly controlled is too low under current regulations,” they write.
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