The Norwegian Public Roads Administration – NRK Troms and Finnmark says it will take two weeks before a new temporary bridge can be built over Badderen in Kvænangen

On Tuesday night, all traffic over the bridge on the E6 in Kvænangen was closed after it suffered a serious break in the middle.

Bridge experts at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration have concluded that the damage is too great to be salvaged.

Damage to the building is too serious to repair the bridge. We are now thinking about whether we should let the bridge collapse on its own, or whether we should remove it, says Frode Ling Hansen, of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

When will the bridge collapse?

– we do not know. We’re not quite sure if he’ll collapse, or if he’ll be able to fend off him. For now, we won’t help her along the way.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is not yet able to determine why the bridge is close to collapsing.

Defense in place

The Armed Forces Corps of Engineers has now arrived at the site for its own benefit. They did not receive any official inquiries for assistance, says the Chief of Staff of the Engineering Battalion, Johann Nygaard.

– The brigade and the battalion command asked us to verify the information that we already have, according to which we can still somehow support military transport in this area.

Reserve bridge on the road

A temporary bridge will likely be in place within two weeks.

– A new temporary bridge was ordered yesterday, is being loaded onto a trailer and is on its way here. He says it comes in sections, like a build kit.

It’s frightening how vulnerable things can be when this bridge collapses, Acting Mayor Bjorn Elfsiter says. He thinks it’s time to wait 14 days for a new bridge.

– We think it works for a long time, fourteen days without contact is a long time. We hope the construction time will be shorter.

Emergency preparedness was taken care of

Emergency preparedness has been taken on both sides of the bridge, says department manager at AMK Tromsø, Inger-Lise Kristiansen about the bridge collapse at Kvænangen.

Located on the north side of the bridge, the local ambulance will transport patients to Alta for possible airlift to the hospital. On the south side of the bridge, an ambulance from Nordreisa is on standby.

– We also have MS Kvænangen which is based on Skjervøy. Go on the way to Kvænangen. Patients who will be returned to the municipality can be sent by ambulance to Skjervøy, as well as by boat from there to Kvænangen.

Christiansen says it is inconvenient to transport patients through Finland.

Carrying medicine by boat

Per Reiersen works as a fire regulator in Kvænangen Municipality. Now it has also become a carrier of medicines for home nursing.

The nursing home transported the medicine from the Burfjord to the spring, where Reiersen transports it by boat to the nursing home stuck on the other side of the bridge.

It is very important that people get their medication. They could have received from Nordreisa, but it’s best if people visit their regular home nurses, says Reiersen.

The speedboat becomes a school boat

For transportation around the quarry site, the municipality has created a temporary solution with boat transportation between Badderen boat port and the beach at Sætra.

Now the MS Kvænangen speedboat will be used to transport schoolchildren across the collapsed bridge in Kvænangen, says Kurt Bones, Troms County Traffic General Manager.

– You will move from a fish farm in Badderen to Burfjord where the school is located. The bus will also take the students to the pier.

Don’t deliver the groceries

The breakdown in use creates challenges in transporting goods to and from Finnmark. Kurt Sørensen drove all the way from Denmark as groceries went to Alta and Hammerfest.

He’s now stuck waiting for a message from his boss about what to do next. He doesn’t see driving through Finland as an alternative.

– It’s some nonsense, it’s no good, says the visibly frustrated Sørensen.

unknown case

Erik Losnigaard Mivek is the rapporteur in the municipality of Kwangen. He describes the situation as tragic.

– It is interesting that the road divides the country in two, and it can be up to 14 days of closure. The mayor says it’s very special.

Moreover, he says it is not a matter unknown to the municipality. The mountain pass over Kvænangsfjellet is often closed in winter due to avalanche hazards.

However, this is the first time that the municipality has also been split in two.

– This time we must also find solutions internally in the municipality. Mavic explains that the problem is usually inside and outside the municipality.

– Never happen again

Martin Grunslet is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Samferdselsforum Nord. Their goal is to bring together politicians and the business community around shared transportation solutions for Northern Norway.

He fears many accidents like the one in Kvangen.

– I don’t come anywhere where we are more prone to such incidents.

He points out that E6 is the main artery that connects the country to each other. Elsewhere, most detours exist if the road is closed for various reasons. Here you have to enter another country.

– He said in a statement that measures must begin immediately, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration must ensure a permanent and future solution that prevents this from happening again.

Member of Parliament Erlind Svardal Boye (H) submitted questions to Transport Minister John Ivar Nygaard (Labour) after the crash.

He asks for the minister’s opinion about the vulnerability of the road section, and what actions he will take to restore the section as soon as possible.

It is also important for the government to start working on a new and permanent solution to the roadblock as soon as possible, Svardal Boye wrote to the minister.