Skip to main content

Norwegian tunnels needs safety improvements

Investigations into tunnel safety in Norway have revealed that there are 148 requiring safety upgrades. The 148 tunnels do not meet current EU safety requirements. The EU's road tunnel safety directive was introduced in 2007 and the deadline for the work to be carried out is April 1st, 2019. The necessary upgrade is estimated to cost €873.82 million.
August 17, 2015 Read time: 1 min
Investigations into tunnel safety in Norway have revealed that there are 148 requiring safety upgrades. The 148 tunnels do not meet current EU safety requirements. The EU's road tunnel safety directive was introduced in 2007 and the deadline for the work to be carried out is April 1st, 2019. The necessary upgrade is estimated to cost €873.82 million.

A risk analysis for tunnel fires presented by the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap) in 2014 reveals that that there have been an average of 21 fires/year in Norwegian tunnels during the last eight years. Luckily, most of the fires are small with limited consequences. The analysis, involving 67 tunnels, shows that heavy vehicles were involved in seven out of 12 fires.

Related Content

  • Norwegian project awarded
    September 9, 2021
    An important Norwegian project has been awarded.
  • Drink driving concern for Europe
    November 24, 2015
    Drink drive enforcement still has issues in Europe, according to Pan-European police body TISPOL. It is estimated that 230 (14%) of the 1,713 road deaths in the UK are due to drinking and driving. Meanwhile drink driving is the cause of around 5,000 road deaths in Europe. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the limit for driving is still 80mg (0.8) of alcohol/100ml of blood. Scotland reduced its limit to 50mg (0.5) of alcohol/100ml of blood in December 2014, bringing it into line with most other Europea
  • The most dangerous times on US roads
    July 2, 2018
    Newly available data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Studies (IIHS) shows the most dangerous days for drivers on US roads. The research studied fatal crashes that occurred between 1998 and 2014, revealing that summer and early Autumn have the highest rates of fatal road crashes. The risk of crashing is higher at the weekend than during the working week, with the 3pm to 7pm time slot having a particularly high risk of road fatalities. Most dangerous of all are New Year’s Day and the US Independence
  • Crash barriers aid vehicle protection, road safety
    February 8, 2012
    Barrier and crash cushion systems can make a great deal of difference to roadway safety, with new technology offering major benefits to road users. In North America and Western Europe, concrete centre line dividers are being used for many major highways as these provide a durable solution for preventing cross-over accidents with large vehicles such as heavy trucks. It is worth noting too that other countries are now adopting concrete barriers for highway centre line dividers also, with this system being use