The Skjeggestad Bridge

A quick clay slide caused the southbound lane of the Skjeggestad bridge to collapse on 2 February 2015. AF Decom was hired to handle demolition of the damaged bridge.

Project status

Feb 2015

May 2015

About the project

A controlled weakening of the structure using explosive charges was selected as demolition method. The advantage of this method is that it enables quick demolition of the bridge. Timing was a crucial factor to avoid the Skjeggestad Bridge to collapse uncontrollably and damage the bridge next to it.

For safety reasons, remote controlled machines were used for works close to the bridge construction.

Skjeggestad, Norway

Safety first

Blasting the bridge was a technical challenge, and there was great emphasis on ensuring the safety of all those working on the project. Drilling and chiselling of the bridge sections to be blasted was done from personnel baskets hanging from a crane, and the demolition charges were place in the same way. Before the blast, approx. 2 000 cubic metres of Leca balls were placed underneath the section of the bridge to be blasted. This was done to ensure minor disturbances in the quick clay foundation when the bridge hit the ground.