The news that the Strömsund Bridge had loosened in one of its brackets and moved sideways in connection with a 100-tonne heavy truck trying to drive over it on Tuesday evening had almost the character of an April Fool's joke.
- It was hard to believe that it was even true, says Martin Kjällén.
But when he got to work on Wednesday morning, he realized that the truth was one hundred percent - and that it would have far-reaching consequences for him.
- Instead of starting the car, driving over the bridge and being at work within three to four minutes, I had to take a detour of 3.5 miles, says Martin Kjällén.
It quickly dawned on him that the accident - if you can now call it an accident - will be costly for him and everyone else who lives in Strömsund and works in one of the shops or companies located in Näsviken's commercial area.
- Yes, it will be expensive - both in time and in money for the fuel. We have already realized that we must try to carpool, he notes.
The three and a half miles they now have to drive around Ström's vattudal consists of a gravel road, a rather brittle gravel road, according to Martin Kjällén.
Now it is also heavily loaded because there are many people who have to take that route. Some of them drive slowly because the road is bad, and Martin Kjällén believes that the risk of accidents on the road has increased tenfold. He hardly dares to think about what it will be like when autumn turns to winter.
- I don't have children I have to pick up from daycare, so in that way I'm lucky. But even if there are those who are hit harder than me, it is still very frustrating, he says.
According to him, most of the people who work in Näsviken, which is located at the western bridge abutment, the one that has given way, live in Strömsund.
- There are many of us who hope that the Swedish Transport Administration can fix a temporary solution, perhaps some kind of floating footbridge. But that is probably too much to hope for. The only thing we have been told by the Swedish Transport Administration is that the repair will take a month, but I don't really dare to believe that.
It is approximately 330 meters above the water from Strömsund to Näsviken. Of course, you look over from one side to the other.
- We've joked that we might be able to fix an inflatable boat, but it's a bit too far to paddle across, Martin and his colleagues note.
The Swedish Transport Administration states on its website that the bridge, which was completed in 1956, is an important part of Europaväg 45 through Strömsund. The bridge has recently been upgraded and is classified as a BK4 bridge. This means that it has a load capacity for vehicles up to 74 tons.
When a transformer station was to be transported by truck to Mo i Rana in Norway on Tuesday, the transport company sought an exemption to cross the bridge because the crew weighed 100 tons.
They got a dispensation. On what grounds or how the Swedish Transport Administration reasoned is currently unknown. DN has not yet succeeded in establishing contact with the authority.
At the moment, they are examining the damage and trying to find out what kind of efforts are required before being able to open the bridge to traffic again. Yesterday they said it will take a month. On the website it is written that it is not possible to give a forecast for when the bridge can open to traffic again.
DN is looking for the Swedish Transport Administration.
