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- The Hardanger Bridge, Norway
The Hardanger Bridge, Norway
Expertises
Safety Circle steps used in this project
The client
The Hardanger Bridge, one of the largest suspension bridges in the world, stretches across the Eidfjorden branch off of the main Hardangerfjorden in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the municipalities of Ullensvang and Ulvik.
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The requirements
Working at a height of 225 meters required reliable and efficient fall protection.
People working on the bridge must be protected against falling from this extreme height. The strict laws and regulations in Norway also ensure that a reliable safety solution is given the highest priority.
The deck of this bridge is 55 meters above the water level and has a span of 1,310 meters. The sloping cables that connect the pillars of the bridge provide a technical challenge to achieve a safe and comfortable work situation. Working at such heights presents demanding working conditions with strong winds and heavy rainfall.
As maintenance activities are a regular occurrence on the bridge, a safe method of accessing and carrying out the tasks needed to be implemented.
The solution
Eurosafe carried out the design and installation of a fall protection system to provide access to the areas required.
The BridgeLatch system from MSA Latchways is an innovative solution for sloping and curved structures such as bridges. The BridgeLatch travelling device moves smoothly over the cable attachment points and therefore does not have to be disconnected. This way the user is always secured.
The unique design of the BridgeLatch Transfastener enables it to arrest a fall and prevent slippage in both directions, meaning that it can be used to travel up an incline as well as down without needing to disconnect and rotate the travelling device through 180°.
The results
As the BridgeLatch Transfastener passes through each of the intermediate anchor points, the employee is continuously protected against falling on every sloping part of the bridge.
Year-round maintenance activities can be carried out safely and efficiently by competent personnel.
Applied solution
