HLV Uglen sucessfully installed 30 bridge elements for the 1533 meter long Hålogaland bridge
During September and October 2017 the HLV Uglen installed the 30 elements for the 1533 meter long Hålogaland bridge on behalf of our client SRBG (Sichuan Road and Bridge Group).
The Hålogaland bridge in Narvik, Norway, shortens the E6 by eighteen km and travelling time to and from Narvik towards Vesterålen / Lofoten and Tromsø is reduced by 20 minutes.
Once opened, the Hålogalands bridge will be the second largest suspension bridge in Norway. Its two pylons rise up 210 meters above sea level and has a sailing height of 40 meters. The Hålogaland bridge is 1533 meters long, the bridge span between the two pylons is 1145 meters and is an impressive sight rising up between the mountain tops above the Rombak fjord.
The HLV Uglen lifted and installed all together 30 bridge elements which were lifted direct from the transportation ship Korex SBM 2 which again transported the bridge elements from China to Narvik. The transportation ship was anchored in the fjord same as HLV Uglen.
The first part of the installation of bridge elements started in the middle of the bridge span, and the lifting operation was performed with the HLV Uglen rigged with the high-lift boom version of 110 meters hook height. The Uglen positioned the crane boom above the main bearing cables.
For the side parts of the bridge span, HLV Uglen utilized the standard boom version and was then able to place the bridge elements under the main bearing cables. Each bridge element weighed about 243 tons, and altogether the HLV Uglen lifted about 7300 tons of bridge elements of steel onto the bridge cables.
The installation was challenging due to strong winds which led to some waiting time, however this is not unusual for an operation like this given the time of year and place of operation. The lifting operation itself took 30 days and required both endurance and accuracy at the same time as it was a very exciting and challenging contract.
