Unclear when E45 can open again after the landslide

It is unclear how long the E45 at Lilla Edet will need to be closed after Sunday's heavy rainfall, which destroyed a section of the road. We have not seen the full extent of the damage the road has suffered, says press communicator Katarina Wolffram at the Transport Administration.

» Updated: October 03 2024

» Published: July 29 2024

Unclear when E45 can open again after the landslide
Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

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The day after the heavy rainfall, it is calm at E45, just north of Lilla Edet. Between the motorway and a parallel county road, there are piles of large frigolite blocks, which were under the road surface but were torn loose by the water masses.

On a normal Monday, there is constant traffic noise here. But now it is quiet and still. You can hear both the dove in the forest and some gurgling watercourse.

The motel next to the accident site has unusually few lunch guests this day.

Some curious visitors are gazing at the frigolite piles from a distance.

An elderly lady asks how she should drive to get to Trollhättan.

Everyone wonders: How long will E45 have to be closed?

Geotechnicians on site

On Monday, when the rainwater had drained away, the road was inspected by the Swedish Transport Administration. Among others, geotechnicians were on site.

The Swedish Transport Administration hopes to be able to provide a prognosis on Monday about when E45 can be reopened. It may be that only part of the motorway's width will be opened in a first stage.

No one was injured by the landslide. But in several houses, the basements were flooded, and the traffic on E45 was severely affected.

It came to a complete standstill. When we arrived, there was a Norwegian car that had water up to the windows, a motorist told P4 Väst on Sunday evening.

The evacuation and diversion of traffic caused extensive queues and hour-long waits. About 30 vehicles that got stuck in the water masses had to be transported away. The rescue service's operation was completed a while after midnight.

The frigolite let go

Water masses seeped under the road surface and took with them parts of the frigolite that is in the road construction, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.

There has been so much water that some of these frigolite parts have let go of their anchoring, says Svante Carlsson, regional incident commander for the rescue service in Greater Gothenburg.

A 14-kilometer-long stretch of E45 is closed.

Traffic is now being diverted via E6, whose stretch past Stenungsund recently reopened after being closed due to a landslide in September last year. It is only a few miles by air between the two accident sites, on either motorway.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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