Sweden holds firm on its planned road maintenance

Trafikverket said projects are on schedule despite the covid crisis.
By David Arminas April 20, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Swedish projects on track, says Trafikverket (photo Kennerth Kullman/Dreamstime)

Sweden’s road authority Trafikverket has said it will keep to its planned road maintenance schedule during the coronavirus outbreak.

It is also not possible to get larger projects off the ground ahead of their planned start dates because of the need to go out to international tender. The procurement process must give international companies time to prepare their bids.

Trafikverket said that the outbreak of Covid-19 and government lockdowns have not slowed down or interfered with projects already underway.

Trafikverket’s announcement comes after the head of Mesta, a government infrastructure business in neighbouring Norway, said she wants to see more tunnel rehabilitation work brought forward as the Covid-19 crisis continues.

Marianne Bergmann Røren said there are 55 tunnels that need to be upgraded before 2025 and she urged authorities to give the green light for these projects sooner rather than later.

Her call comes as the company- the largest player in Norway’s road maintenance market - announced it was temporarily laying off 100 employees. Mesta is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and must compete for each contract in the open market.

Maintenance

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
  • Cheaper, greener and less smelly; it’s all about the additives
    August 20, 2015
    The demand for bitumen additives is set to increase. Kristina Smith reports on some of the companies who are preparing to meet that increased demand. The variation in quality and composition of bitumen around the world is something that has been well-documented in these pages. Processing technologies for crude oil are changing, the way bitumen is traded is changing, and the final result can be a product that may not be all it seems – or huge variations from one shipment to another. Help is at hand, however,
    Read More
  • Carry on Movin’ On - Michelin’s mobility event
    October 15, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just
    Read More
  • Norway’s record breaking undersea road tunnel
    February 25, 2015
    The world's deepest road tunnel is currently in construction near Stavanger in Norway but is only the prelude to even larger projects - report and photographs by Adrian Greeman. Norway's convoluted coastline of fjords and high mountains is famously scenic but also a major problem for transport and connections. The country has long experience of constructing tunnels as a result. Now a series of tunnels underway, or in design, around the oil industry city of Stavanger will stretch its skills more than usual.
    Read More

Highlighted Content