Skjeggestad bridge blasted Saturday: How should the described – step by step – Aftenposten

A giant crane looms now over southern course on Skjeggestad Bridge on E18 in Vestfold. The crane plays the lead role during the preparations for the demolition of the bridge, which will take place Saturday at 14.00.

For several days already experts from AF Decom hung in a basket under the faucet and studied how explosive charges shall be placed and how to proceed.

Now the plan is ready, so Aftenposten get it presented from Road Administration:

Security:

• The explosion of Skjeggestad bridge is technically challenging, and the important thing is to ensure the safety of all who have so far worked on the project and those who are in the area when the bridge will be blasted.

Preparations:

• Before blasting it laid out about 2,000 cubic meters of loose Leca stone under the part of the bridge southbound run to burst down. Leca balls will act as cushion for the bridge elements when they fall down by the blast.
• There has been no fighters under the bridge during the preparations. All work is done by remote controlled machines. Because of the uncertain ground conditions have been risky for personnel to move under the bridge.
• The drilling and chiseling of bridge parts to be blasted have also gone on from baskets, and location / charging ointments have occurred in the same way .

This happens before the blast:

• The bridge is ahead cut across by axis (brokar- see drawing) no.4.

The explosion step by step:

• The axes 5 and 6 blasted simultaneously and the bridge falls down from axis 4 to land the vessel No.7.
• The cushion with Leca stones are diagnosed – ie 2,000 cubic meters – located under the bridge from axis 4 to axis 7. The bridge is covered with drapes on the sides to prevent side splashes.

Critical low brokompetanse

Continued held a landslide caused by digging with bulldozer near the bridge as a likely reason why Skjeggestad Bridge on E18 in Vestfold collapsed on February 2.

But it is a fact that Road Administration is struggling to find critical skills both on bridges and geology. It says Siw Tyldum as steward in NITO, the largest organization for engineers and technologists, NPRA. Daily work, she Road Administration as a senior engineer .

– Road Administration must often settle for hiring people who do not have the technical expertise needed, she said.

She also refers to a intrernnotat in Road Administration where a number of competency areas described as particularly vulnerable, and where the situation in the following fields described as “critical”, namely:

• Planning
• Expertise in development, operation and maintenance
• Project construction management
• Support for builder

and

• Expertise within bridge and geology / geotechnical.

– Luck does not last forever

“In central areas in eastern and Trondelag must weigh necessarily cross areas with challenging soil conditions. Especially located bridges usually by slopes, thus potentially avalanche terrain, “confirmed four engineers and scientists with insight into clay Aftenposten February 10th.

The headline their on debate post was:” Brokollapsen on E18: Luck does not last forever. “

– We’ll never let it go traffic on a bridge that is not safe to walk on. But we see that we are struggling to provide adequate expertise, and this is no easier when we should compete on expertise with a new Veiselskap says Tyldum.

– We will never be able to realize the violent road geometry that exists today if we did not succeed in obtaining the necessary expertise. Competence should be optimal. If not, it may go out over quality, she said.

– Today I have no idea how the Government will be able to raise people everything they want to adopt the way, says Tyldum .

Hiring teachers and archaeologists

As emergency measure hires Road Administration according Tyldum today teachers, archaeologists and landscape architects. They have something to basic skills and trained internally, but they have not really the knowledge that positions implies.

Or, using people with good experience but who have low formal education.

A lot of time goes into training people who either have low skills, or high and errors expertise. This is not particularly effective in terms of job to be done, says Tyldum.

Employee via Skype

Another emergency measure is to grab people from abroad, but these are often well-paid in their homeland and there is no abundance of vacant engineers here.

Tyldum tells of a civil engineer from Chile who reported for duty when they stood perplexed for a good brokonstruktør to a bridge in Central Norway.

– She was interviewed via Skype. Today she is a permanent employee and has been family to Norway.

Tyldum point to two reasons there is insufficient brokompetanse available:

• It educates too few in geology and bridge in Norway.
• Those who educates tempted to work in private business where salaries are significantly higher.

– A comparison we have done shows that Road Administration expertise has 170,000 200,000 million less in salaries than veiingeniører employed private mainland. In oil, wages even much higher.

– Inside a vicious circle

– When government “benefit” as pension and other rights are weakened, we also lose this benefit. Nor has helped wage settlements in recent years has focused on the low-paid and women’s wages. The engineers have come out badly.

– It becomes a vicious circle, where we are sitting with the graduates, while those who would teach them disappears.

– Considering poorer times in the oil industry, it is now easier to recruit for Road Administration?

– We believe that we can make us something, but we do not know how much, says Tyldum.

Veidirektøren: – Not so bad

– You may use slightly stronger words than you really believe in such internal memos. The wording would probably have been different if we’d written for the public, says acting veidirektør Lars Aksnes.

– The paper states “critical weak brokompetanse”?

– We must in any case get the expertise to get better. We are an educational institution. Konsulentfirrmaer recruits much from us. But I would not say that brokompetansen is bad, says Aksnes.

This paper advocates strengthening “strategic partnership” with colleges and universities to build up the necessary expertise and capacity in relation to current needs.

See helicopter pictures from the broken bridge here:

See helicopter images of Skjeggestad bridge

Published: 18.feb. 2015 24:54