Bekkelaget Tunnel

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Bekkelaget Tunnel

Bekkelaget 1958.jpg

The southern mouth in 1958, with the new station. The old Bekkelaget Station is to the left.
Overview
Official name Bekkelagstunnelen
Line Østfold Line
Location Bekkelaget, Oslo, Norway
Coordinates 59°53′06″N10°46′15″E / 59.8850°N 10.7707°E / 59.8850; 10.7707 Coordinates: 59°53′06″N10°46′15″E / 59.8850°N 10.7707°E / 59.8850; 10.7707
Operation
Work begun 14 April 1955
Opened 7 September 1958 (1958-09-07)
Owner Norwegian National Rail Administration
Technical
Length 578 m (1,896 ft)
No. of tracks Double
Track gauge Standard gauge
Electrified 15 kV ​16 2⁄3 Hz AC
Width 9.55 m (31.3 ft)
Grade 1.0 %

The Bekkelaget Tunnel (Norwegian : Bekkelagstunnelen) is a 578-meter (1,896 ft) long railway tunnel which carries two tracks of the Østfold Line past Bekkelaget in Oslo, Norway. Construction started 14 April 1955, after a landslide on 3 October 1953 had caused damage to the railway. The tunnel was built to allow for space for the road of Mosseveien. The tunnel opened on 7 October 1958. Bekkelaget Station was located on the section of track which was closed, and a new station was built at the southern mouth. It closed on 29 May 1983.

Norwegian language North Germanic language spoken in Norway

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties, and some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era.

Tunnel An underground passage made for traffic

A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods.

Østfold Line railway line in Norway

The Østfold Line is a 170-kilometer (110 mi) railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and the entire line is electrified. It serves a combination of commuter, regional and freight trains and is the main rail corridor south of Norway. The Eastern Østfold Line branches off at Ski Station and runs 79 kilometers (49 mi) before rejoining at Sarpsborg Station.

Contents

Specifications

The Bekkelaget Tunnel is 578 meters (1,896 ft) long and runs through the mountainside through Bekkelaget, carrying the double-tracked Østfold Line. [1] The tunnel is 9.55 meters (31.3 ft) [2] wide and is electrified at 15 kV ​16 2⁄3 Hz AC. Its northern end is situated 3.08 kilometers (1.91 mi) from Oslo Central Station (Oslo S). [1] The tunnel has a minimum curve radius of 400 meters (1,300 ft) and a gradient of 1.0 percent climbing southwards. [2]

15 kV AC railway electrification railway electrification system is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway

The 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC railway electrification system is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway. The high voltage enables high power transmission with the lower frequency reducing the losses of the traction motors that were available at the beginning of the 20th century. Railway electrification in late 20th century tends to use 25 kV, 50 Hz AC systems which has become the preferred standard for new railway electrifications but extensions of the existing 15 kV networks are not completely unlikely. In particular, the Gotthard Base Tunnel still uses 15 kV, 16.7 Hz electrification.

Oslo Central Station railway station in Oslo, Norway

Oslo Central Station is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It is the terminus of Drammen Line, Gardermoen Line, Gjøvik Line, Hoved Line and Østfold Line. It serves express, regional and local rail services by four companies. The railway station is operated by Bane NOR while its real estate subsidiary, Bane NOR Eiendom owns the station, and was opened in 1980.

Minimum railway curve radius

The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the center line of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important bearing on constructions costs and operating costs and, in combination with superelevation in the case of train tracks, determines the maximum safe speed of a curve. Minimum radius of curve is one parameter in the design of railway vehicles as well as trams. Monorails and guideways are also subject to minimum radii.

History

The Østfold Line opened on 2 January 1879. Through Bekkelaget it originally ran in a day section along a right-of-way slightly elevated above Mosseveien. A landslide took place on 7 October 1953, in which both part of the railway tracks and the road were caught. More than eighty people were in the zone, but only five people were killed—four in a bus and one from a heart attack on a train. [2] The temporary solution was to blast a 300-meter (980 ft) shelf into the hillside and move the tracks further in. Work commenced on 9 October and trains could pass on 24 October. [3]

NSB had previously been looking at possibilities of bypassing Bekkelaget with a tunnel. A zoning plan from 1946 called for the widening of Mosseveien and expropriation for this had already taken place. [3] NSB was after the slide of the opinion that the railway could be repaired easily and that with investments of 700,000 Norwegian kroner the area could be secured to allow trains to pass on the new shelf. The Public Roads Administration was of a different opinion. They wanted to widen Mosseveien and needed the area the railway occupied for this widening. They, NSB and the Port of Oslo started negotiations in late 1953. The latter two pressed for the railway to be place in a tunnel to free up space for the road. NSB was not opposed to placing the line in a tunnel, but was not willing to pay the extra cost. Several tunnel alternatives were discussed, including one which would run from near Oslo East Station to Hauketo Station, about 7 kilometers (4 mi). The issue eventually reached a political level and was approved by the government on 24 December 1954. [2]

Eminent domain the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use

Eminent domain, land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia), or expropriation is the power of a state, provincial, or national government to take private property for public use. However, this power can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized by the legislature to exercise the functions of public character.

Norwegian krone currency of Norway and its dependent territories

The krone[ˈkruːnə], plural kroner, is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. It is subdivided into 100 øre, which have existed only electronically since 2012. The name translates into English as crown.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road networks, driver training and licensing, vehicle inspection, and subsidies to car ferries.

The compromise involved that Oslo Municipality and Akershus County Road Administration would pay for the costs exceeding those which had run it the line had been built along the former right-of-way. The new tunnel received a minimum curve radius of 400 meters (1,300 ft), less than the former line. The curvature made the Østfold Line 22.4 meters (73 ft) longer. As Bekkelaget Station was located on the part of the line which would be bypassed, NSB proposed closing the station. Local residents protested and NSB agreed to build a new halt at the southern entrance of the tunnel, 460 meters (1,510 ft) south of the former station. The new station costs 340,000 kroner, and way paid jointly by NSB and Oslo Municipality. [2] This station was ultimately closed on 29 May 1983. [1]

Construction of the tunnel began on 14 April 1955 and was contracted to Brødrene Hauge. It was originally planned to be completed on 1 August 1956, but it soon proved impossible to follow the schedule. The rock was of poorer conditions than originally thought. The porous rock meant that there was a need to repeatedly build support columns, slowing progress. By the start of 1956, 350 meters (1,150 ft) had been blasted. The breakthrough took place on 8 March 1956. The original blasting had only created a narrow profile and the rest of the work went to widening it. A 180-meter (590 ft) cutting was made on the south side of the tunnel, to make a place for the station. The concrete walls were finished in November 1957. A road bridge was built over the northern entrance to allow Mosseveien to pass over, and when it was completed the tracks and wiring could be installed. The tunnel became operational on 7 September 1958. [2] The same day the old Bekkelaget Station closed and the new one opened and the old tracks were abandoned. [1] Construction continued for another year with the demolishing of the old right-of-way and widening of Mosseveien. Total costs were 7.4 million kroner, of which NSBn paid 950,000. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bjerke, Thor; Holom, Finn (2004). Banedata 2004 (in Norwegian). Hamar / Oslo: Norwegian Railway Museum / Norwegian Railway Club. p. 40. ISBN   82-90286-28-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sando, Svein (1978). "Rasulykkene ved Bekkelaget og Ljan høsten 1953". På Sporet (in Norwegian). 23: 4–6.
  3. 1 2 Langård, Geir-Widar; Ruud, Leif-Harald (2005). Sydbaneracer og Skandiapil – Glimt fra Østfoldbanen gjennom 125 år (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norwegian Railway Club. pp. 158–160. ISBN   978-82-90286-29-8.
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