Railway bridge collapses in southeastern Norway after final week’s torrential rain

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A railway bridge in southeastern Norway that ran throughout a river swollen by torrential rain collapsed on Monday, authorities stated.

BaneNOR, a authorities company accountable for the Norwegian rail infrastructure, stated the central part of the metal truss bridge over the Laagen River slid into the water “as a consequence of harm to the central bridge basis.”

All site visitors throughout the bridge was halted every week in the past out of worry that it could collapse due to the big quantity of water.

“Bane NOR had simply begun investigating the extent of the harm to the bridge on Monday morning when the center half slid into the river,” the company stated in an announcement.

The bridge is 172.5 meters (189 yards) lengthy with three spans. It has a direct basis on the riverbed, and was inbuilt 1957.

Eivind Bjurstrøm at Bane NOR stated that the collapse of the bridge “by no means concerned a hazard to life and well being, which I’m very pleased about.”

The rain led to the evacuation of 1000’s in southeastern Norway, the place an enormous quantity of water, affected by damaged bushes, particles and trash, thundered down the normally serene rivers after days of torrential rain.

Storm Hans battered northern Europe, resulting in transportation disruption, flooding and energy cuts throughout the Nordic and Baltic area. At the least three individuals have been killed.

A hydroelectric river dam in southeastern Norway collapsed as water compelled its approach by, and a practice derailed in neighboring Sweden when a railway embankment was washed away by floods.