Hardanger Bridge Norway

MT Højgaard has entered a contract with Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian Public Roads Administration) to carry out the steel and assembly work on the Hardanger Bridge across Hardangerfjord in Norway. The bridge is scheduled for completion in 2013.

TDV was approached by MT Højgaard in Denmark to assist in this project.

Hardanger Bridge, Norway

The Hardanger Bridge is a 1,380m-long suspension bridge that will replace the existing ferry connection between Brurvik and Brimnes, and will reduce the journey time between Oslo and Bergen significantly, as well as benefiting local traffic.

The suspension bridge with have one of the longest spans in the world at 1,310m and will be 30m longer than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The small difference between length and span is because the fjord quickly becomes very deep, and the towers must stand near the shore. Also there are steep mountain walls. The maximum water depth near the bridge is about 500 m, and the mountains surrounding the fjord are about 1200 m high. The bridge will have two lanes for cars (2 × 4.5m) and one pedestrian lane (3.25m). The steel box girder is 20m wide. In total, more than 14,000 tons of steel will be used in the construction of the bridge, of which the suspension cables alone weigh 6,400 tons.

The height of the towers above sea level will be approximately 186m. The bridge will have a clearance above mean high water at mid-span of 55m. The project also comprises a 2.4km-long tunnel and 0.8km of road between the tunnel and the bridge.

TDV was part of the Consultant team and mainly responsible for the construction stage analysis, the full modelling, the structural analysis as well as the wind design of this complex structure.

Modelling this suspension bridge was a very delicate procedure because of the very complicated sequence of construction stages which had to be simulated for the erection of every single segment.

The principles of the Construction Sequence are given below:

• The concrete towers are erected first;
• The main cable is installed;
• The deck is assembled in 60m segments, connected by hinges, starting from the middle of the main span up to the towers at both sides;
• The segments are welded and the super imposed dead load is applied.

The assistance given by TDV for the Hardanger Bridge project was in deriving a concept for the erection procedure and providing the know-how and expertise for the final stage and the construction stage analysis.

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• Contract:
  • Hardanger Bridge Norway.
• Owner:
  • Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian Public Roads Administration).
• Consultant:
  • MT Højgaard a/s, Denmark.
• State of Construction:
  • Under construction.
• TDV Involvement:
  • General advice on erection procedure by and construction stage analysis;
  • Full Structural Analysis for Construction Stage;
  • Full deck pre-camber design and geometry control;
  • Wind design of towers and deck;
  • Numerical simulation of wind tunnel test;
  • Multiple wind investigations.

TDV Consulting GmbH
Dorian Janjic & Partner
A-8010 Graz, Austria