The Brunnholen Bridge is part of the fv. 505 Skjæveland–Foss-Eikeland project, aimed at creating a better east-west connection between various residential and commercial areas. The road will become part of the ring road around Sandnes city center
The bridge was designed in collaboration with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Western Region (SVRV), which led the design management. Aas-Jakobsen was responsible for the structural design of the substructure and superstructure, as well as joints and bearings. SVRV handled much of the bridge equipment design, including railings and drainage. Geotechnical design was managed by Multiconsult.
The bridge is a four-lane concrete box girder bridge with a median divider, crossing the railway freight terminal at Gandal in Sandnes. The superstructure consists of two separate box girders that were pushed out individually and then cast together at the deck level. The bridge has a total width of 26 meters, with six piers, spans ranging from 44 to 55.5 meters, and a total length of 255 meters. Two on-site production facilities were set up to produce each box girder behind abutment axis 6. The girders were constructed in nine sections, each typically 26-27 meters long. Each section was cast and incrementally launched at two-week intervals, staggered by one week between the two girders, resulting in one girder launch per week.
Temporary bracing was necessary between piers 2 and 4 due to the low stiffness of the pile foundations in these axes. The limited stiffness of the pile groups was due to the proximity of the railway tracks, which restricted space for pile groups. The piling work was particularly challenging, involving steel pipe piles up to approximately 70 meters long in the deepest sections.
The decision by SVRV to use the incremental launching method for construction over the freight terminal was a very wise choice. This method minimizes work directly above the terminal, allowing operations there to remain largely unaffected by the bridge construction. The Brunnholen Bridge was not only launched over the freight terminal but also over the Sørlandsbanen railway without impacting the project’s progress. This construction method ensures excellent adherence to safety, health, and work environment standards.
Through projects like the Brunnholen Bridge and Gulli Bridge, Aas-Jakobsen has gained extensive expertise in the incremental launching method, which has proven to be a highly robust and effective technique for constructing bridges on challenging sites.
Jarle Rønvik
Direktør Bru
jar@aaj.no
+47 928 46 933
