Engineers inspecting the Halogaland Bridge, which is under construction in Norway, have revealed that parts of the deck will have to be replaced after they were damaged by a major storm which hit the country last week. Winds of up to 30m/s were measured by sensors on the 1,145m-main-span suspension bridge during the storm.
Although erection of all of the deck units was completed at the end of October, the units are still being held together by temporary bolts while welding is carried out. Under the high winds, bolts at four of the connections broke and damage was caused at seven places on the deck plates. These damaged plates will have to be cut out and replaced. Hans-Jack Arntzen, acting project manager at Norwegian Public Roads Administration confirmed that the damage would impact on the schedule for the bridge but said the extent of the delay was not yet known.
