Hardanger Bridge

Assignment

The design of the Hardanger Bridge was carried out through a collaboration between the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Norconsult.

Solution

During the design phase, emphasis was placed on simple and robust solutions with minimal maintenance requirements. The stiffening girder and main suspension cables were equipped with internal dehumidification systems. The stiffening girder was designed with external rails for an underhung maintenance trolley that can travel the entire span. The towers were equipped with inspection platforms at key structural elements. All tower surfaces were designed with embedded attachment points for climbing inspections.

Result

After approximately two years of design work and about 3.5 years of construction, the Hardanger Bridge was completed in August 2013. The 1,310-meter main span was constructed with a closed steel box as the stiffening girder. The steel boxes were manufactured in 15-meter lengths and assembled into 60-meter sections before installation. The production took place in Shanghai, China. The main suspension cables were constructed using aerial spinning. Each cable consists of 10,032 galvanized wires with a diameter of 5.3mm. The breaking load of the cables is 2 x 342,000 kN. The viaducts on both sides of the fjord are 17 and 45 meters long, respectively, and are constructed with concrete box sections. The anchorage is implemented conventionally using anchorage chambers and splay chambers. In the splay chamber, the main cable is divided into 19 sub-cables that are anchored via tension cables to the anchorage chamber. The towers have a height of 200 meters above the fjord and are located near the shoreline. The tower legs are constructed with concrete box sections and were built using climbing formwork in 4-meter high sections. The towers have three crossbeams, also made of concrete.