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

  • Highways England and Keir trial warning airbag
    May 3, 2021
    “Home Safe and Well”* is not just an inflated phrase put out by Highways England to raise awareness of work zone dangers
  • Work to start on triple-deck roundabout in North Tyneside, UK
    June 30, 2016
    Construction of a major triple-deck roundabout in North Tyneside, England starts in August.

    The roundabout is part of an upgrade to the A19/A1058 Coast Road junction that includes lowering the A19 beneath the existing A1058 Coast Road and roundabout.

    The €90 million scheme is on the main route to and from the Tyne Tunnel and will mean that people travelling along the A19 will no longer have to queue at the roundabout to go continue their journey straight ahead. Instead, drivers will use a new section of road which will run under the junction.
  • US deer-vehicle collisions fall 7 per cent
    May 4, 2012
    For the third consecutive year, the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the US has dropped. And the downturn is accelerating. The percentage decline over the last year is nearly three times as large as during the previous two years combined. Using its claims data, leading US auto insurer State Farm, estimates 1.09 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the US between 1 July, 2010 and 30 June, 2011.
  • Underground expansion pushes tunnelling market
    June 13, 2012
    Infrastructure investment means that the road tunnel construction sector is healthy due to demand for new links – Mike Woof reports With many emergent nations investing heavily in infrastructure, the tunnelling sector is seeing extensive business at present. Tunnels provide key links in mountainous areas or in congested cities where building roads on the surface may not be practical. In Asia and Latin America, many key road connections are now being built underground to pass challenging terrain or provide