The Tretten bridge, near Gudbrandsdalen in the Øyer area of southern Norway, collapsed at around 7:30am on Monday, 15th August. Two vehicles, a lorry and a car, were on the 150m-long bridge at the time but the occupants were rescued unharmed.
Designed by Plan Arkitekter and built by contractor Contexto, the Tretten bridge was completed in 2012 and was inspected only last year. The bridge’s structural engineer was Norconsult and the glulam components were supplied by Moelven Limtre.
Moelven also supplied the frame for the 85.4m-tall Mjösa Tower in Brumunddal, currently the world’s tallest timber-framed building.
Norway’s Public Roads Administration has now decided to close 14 similar wooden bridges while it waits for the cause of the collapse to be determined.
Norways’ director of roads, Ingrid Dahl Hovland, told the English language website Norway Today: “A day after the Tretten bridge on county road 254 collapsed, the cause is still unclear. After assessing the situation today, we have come to the conclusion that we must close 14 corresponding truss bridges until we know more about the cause.”
All of Norway’s wooden truss bridges, including the Tretten bridge, were inspected in 2016 following the collapse of a similar structure, the Perkolo bridge at Sjoa, in February that year.
Those inspections found no faults with the Tretten bridge but recommended that some dowels be replaced.
Work to remove the collapsed Tretten bridge began on Wednesday. The structure, most of which is now in the river, will be cut up, lifted ashore and removed.
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