Oslofjord Tunnel closed for repairs for up to three weeks

The 7km subsea Oslofjord Tunnel in Norway will be closed for up to three weeks after a truck caught fire in the tunnel on May 5. Norwegian media report that a 500m stretch was damaged - tunnel vault, cables, insulation and road surface. The tunnel is equipped with 25 evacuation rooms that can be sealed off from the main tunnel. Each room can provide pressurised space for up to 50 people while a fire is being fought. However, the latest incident has spurred the government to announce that a second tube will
May 12, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The 7km subsea Oslofjord Tunnel in Norway will be closed for up to three weeks after a truck caught fire in the tunnel on May 5.


Norwegian media report that a 500m stretch was damaged - tunnel vault, cables, insulation and road surface.

The tunnel is equipped with 25 evacuation rooms that can be sealed off from the main tunnel. Each room can provide pressurised space for up to 50 people while a fire is being fought. However, the latest incident has spurred the government to announce that a second tube will be built to hopefully reduce closures and improve safety.

The National Transport Plan has allocated around €476 million for a new tunnel course, media reported.

The tunnel, opened in 2000 after three years of construction, runs from Hurum to Frogn along Norway’s south coast. It dips 134m below sea level with a maximum gradient of 7% and carries three lanes of National Road 23.

The tunnel was flooded and affected by a landslide in 2003 and flooded again in 2008, resulting in closures or part closures of several weeks at a time. Before the latest vehicle fire, there was one in 2006 and one in 2011.

The latest fire prompted to the former head engineer of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to publically voice concern about safety in the tunnel system, including any proposed new courses. Ove Solheim, a retired civil engineer, told the Oslo-based Aftenposten, Norway’s largest newspaper, that there needed to be three tunnel courses to ensure absolute safety.

He also called for an emergency lane within the tunnel system and an extra lane for slow-moving vehicles. He pointed out that there were 200 temporary closures last year.

Solheim also said that a two-lane bridge was a viable option, but it might cost as much as two new tunnels.

Road Structures

Related Content

  • Work begins on Stockholm’s new bypass
    August 22, 2016
    The first tunnels are being excavated for the huge bypass tunnel in Sweden’s capital Stockholm – Adrian Greeman writes. After years of preparation and design, blasting and rock moving for Sweden's largest infrastructure project began south of the city this year. It sets in train a decade-long project that will create a new half-ring dual three-lane motorway for the city, 20km long. With most of it deep underground, it will also be one of Europe's largest ever road tunnels. The scheme is aimed at transformin
    Read More
  • State-of-the art road tunnels in construction and use of ITS
    April 25, 2013
    A wealth of major road tunnel construction projects and significant cant ITS installations within existing key road tunnels have been recently completed or will soon be underway. Guy Woodford examines some of them. A state-of-the art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - the 10th largest ever to be built worldwide will be put to work later this year on New Zealand Transport Agency’s landmark Waterview Connection project in Auckland. The giant Herrenknecht-manufactured machine will be used to construct the twin 2.5
    Read More
  • Slovakia: early 2017 restart for work on the Cebrat Tunnel
    May 27, 2016
    Roman Brecely, Slovakia’s transport minister, has said that construction of the 2km long motorway tunnel Cebrat near Ruzomberok could be resumed at the beginning of 2017. But the cost is expected to increase by around €100 million. He added that the government likely will seek European Union funding. Construction was halted a year ago over concerns about the possibility of landslides and other geological issues. For this reason, the tunnel route may alter and be an additional 1.5km longer. The tunn
    Read More
  • Austria's new tunnel meets safety regulations
    July 13, 2012
    New safety regulations and high traffic volumes require new tunnel construction all across Europe. Mike Woof reports Anew highway tunnel now being built in Austria will boost traffic volumes and safety standards on a key European route. The existing Pfänder Tunnel lies close to Austria's borders with Germany and Switzerland and carries a heavy traffic volume, so a new parallel tunnel is under construction to help spread this load, increasing capacity as well as safety. Stringent tunnel safety standards have
    Read More

Highlighted Content