Could done all at night – Dagbladet.no

When one during Smestad tunnel on ring 3 in Oslo was closed Monday night marked the beginning of five years of queuing in Oslo traffic.

But motorists in the capital could have avoided the long queues in rush hour traffic on Highways Agency had chosen another solution and made upgrading work on evenings, nights and weekends.

There is a new tunnel regulations with a common European standard that triggers that this work starts now. Norway has until 2019 to fulfill a set of security requirements. Had Road Administration decided to just do it necessities to meet these new requirements, traffic had largely been able running as normal during the day on weekdays.

– We had not done this in a much shorter time, but we could clear us with mainly natte- and weekend-closing, and kept open during the day, says Project Manager Hilde Ulvik NPRA.

Poor solution

But she believes this had been a much worse solution term.

– When we close an Oslo tunnel, so is it such a big inconvenience for passengers that we make much more. We change all veioverbyggingen, replace pavement and heaps several meters down. We also switches all concrete walls and ceilings, said Ulvik.

That’s all this heavy maintenance that makes tunnels must remain closed for months. What is needed to meet the new caraway EU is a minor part of the work – especially in Smestad.

– With the kind of installations that tunnel regulation imposes, so can you get to the tunnel again about mooring. Cables, pipes, ventilation and cameras are a small part of the project on Smestad. But when you take heavy maintenance is not something to run on. Then the whole pavement away while working, says Ulvik.

25 years

If NPRA had not decided to take heavy maintenance now could motorists got an unpleasant surprise.

– Then we might again shortly and we could come into a situation where we had to shut unplanned. And there’s always be than to shut planned, she said.

With heavy maintenance, however the plan that the tunnel should keep at least 25 years before it becomes necessary new rehabilitation.

Detour

There is no detour routes for all traffic using the tunnels, and therefore it becomes more queue. When two lanes in the tunnel closes, a trip between Sinsen and Smestad – a stretch on a scanty mil – take up to four hours, according to calculations.

To ease the situation somewhat for public transport and emergency vehicles, it introduced restrictions on electric cars collective fields: Along ring 3 they are cast, while there must be at least two people in the car that EVs will make use collective field on E18 between Sandvika and Filipstad during rush hour.