Skip to main content

Norway’s fire-damaged Skatestraum tunnel to remain closed until 2016

Repair costs for the fire-ravaged undersea Skatestraum tunnel in Bremanger have risen to nearly US$4.7 million, according to Norwegian media reports. Repairs will run into next year when the tunnel, on Norway’s southern North Sea coast, will re-open, although no date was given, the Norwegian media outlet E24 said. The tunnel, nearly 2km long, was opened only in 2002 at a cost of nearly $39 million. No one was injured in the accident when the tunnel was severely damaged by fire on July 15. A tanker
August 20, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Repair costs for the fire-ravaged undersea Skatestraum tunnel in Bremanger have risen to nearly US$4.7 million, according to Norwegian media reports.

Repairs will run into next year when the tunnel, on Norway’s southern North Sea coast, will re-open, although no date was given, the Norwegian media outlet E24 said.

The tunnel, nearly 2km long, was opened only in 2002 at a cost of nearly $39 million.

No one was injured in the accident when the tunnel was severely damaged by fire on July 15. A tanker truck carrying 16,000 litres of gasoline crashed and its leaking fuel caught ignited.

The driver reportedly managed to stop and turn around vehicles entering the tunnel. He later said that he experienced a brake failure in the deepest part of the tunnel, at 91m below sea level.

The Skatestraum Tunnel runs between the islands of Rugsundøya and Bremangerlandet in Bremanger Municipality.

Related Content

  • HAB wins Oslo E18 tunnel work
    March 20, 2023
    Work starts this summer on the Bygdøylokket and Sjølystlokket tunnels on European Route 18.
  • Last section of Osman Gazi Bridge lifted into place over Izmit Gulf
    May 4, 2016
    The last section of the 3km İzmit Bay Bridge – now officially the Osman Gazi Bridge - was lifted into place on April 21, according to Turkish media. When open later this summer, the bridge will cut the 70-minute drive around İzmit Gulf, on the Sea of Marmara, to just six minutes.
  • Sheep in the city
    May 22, 2019
    Christmas follies Christmas congestion was caused in Cambridgeshire due to an errant Santa. Traffic was forced to halt on a busy stretch of road in the town of Wisbech after an inflatable Santa was blown from the house where it had been secured. The giant Santa inflatable came to rest on Cromwell road, lying on its side and appearing to wave drunkenly at vehicles passing in the opposite lane. Two men then managed to remove the giant inflatable from the roadway, allowing vehicles to pass. And an overze
  • Norway’s crumbling roads
    May 14, 2012
    A report by Norway’s Public Roads Administration (Vegvesenet) indicates that a large proportion of the country’s trunk roads have either bad or very bad surfacing. The data shows that one-third of the country’s trunk road network is in poor condition and requires repair.