Road, Bridge and Tunnel Infrastructure

Civil structures designed for 50-100 years are vulnerable to environmental and human damage, threatening their integrity and symmetry. In Norway, bridges and other infrastructures often lack proper inspection and maintenance, as reported by Norwegian newspaper VG in 2017. About 1000 bridges were classified as damage or didn’t meet standards by 2022 and almost one in every 2nd bridge is missing inspection.

The seafood industry’s expansion in northern Norway puts additional strain on aging infrastructure. In 2021, seafood exports reached 12 billion euros, that contributes to 10% of Norwegian export earnings, highlighting the need for robust infrastructure to support economic growth.

The research group is developing strategies for effective monitoring, maintenance, and repair of structures, focusing on mitigating risks in harsh Arctic conditions and ensuring longevity and safety in key infrastructures.

The research group collaborates with Nordlandsfylkes Kommune, Statens Vegvesen, Tromsfylkes Kommune and Sintef Narvik to further develop research in this direction.

Contact point

Professor Per Johan Nicklasson

e-mail: per.j.nicklasson@uit.no

Projects

Herøy FoU

This project aims to evaluate the condition of the old Herøysund bridge. A post-tensioned bridge located in Nordland Fylkeskommune. With the identification of corrosion in the tendons of the post-tension system of the Herøysund bridge, Nordland Fylkeskommune together with Statens Vegvesen consider that the in-depth evaluation of this bridge can bring additional knowledge and better understanding of a structure’s state, deterioration mechanism and structural safety.

Old Herøysund Bridge. Photo: NFK Foto: xxx
Project Goals
  • Gather as much information as possible about the current state of the bridge.
  • Perform structural health monitoring of the bridge using the existing sensor installation together with a new extended sensor installation.
  • Perform inspections on the post-tensioned system of the bridge, understand the corrosion mechanism and review best practices for reparation.
  • Structural assessment and evaluation of different damage scenarios.
  • Take advantage of probabilistic methods to evaluate the reliability of the results.
Partners
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, Project Lead)
  • UiT The Arctic University of Norway
  • SINTEF Narvik
  • Nordland Fylkeskommune (NFK)
  • Statens Vegvesen (SVV)

Members
  • Daniel Cantero (Project leader) - NTNU
  • Bård Arntsen (Project manager) – SINTEF Narvik
  • Harpal Singh (Project Manager) – UiT Narvik
Funding
  • Statens Vegvesen
  • Nordland county
Financial Grant

NOK 5,800,000

Project Duration

01.09.2022 – 31.12.2025

HOOFER FoU

This project aims to develop and apply structural health monitoring solutions for the Skattørsundet Bridge. The Skattørsundet Bridge is a concrete slab bridge that links the islands of Kågen and Skjervøy in Troms, Norway. The project seeks to improve the structural assessment of existing structures through dynamic analysis in order to adapt techniques and methodologies to different applications. This is the longest bridge in the Arctic where dynamic analysis using operational modal techniques has been successfully been performed.

Project goals
  • Gather all the details and reports about current state of the bridge.
  • Perform dynamic analysis of bridge using accelerometers.
  • Identify dynamic behavior of the structure, that is mode shape and mode frequencies.
  • Identify the most effective layout for long term monitoring.
  • Calibrating the Finite Element Model/ finite element model updating.
Skattørsund bridge located in Troms. Photo: Troms Fylkeskommune
Drawing of the Skattørsund bridge. Photo: Troms Fylkeskommune
Partners
  • Tromsø Fylkeskommune (TFK)
  • UiT The Arctic University of Norway
  • SINTEF Narvik
Members
  1. Bjarne Ryvoll (Project Owner) - Troms fylkeskommune
  2. Prof. Per-Johan Nicklasson - UiT
  3. Prof. Annette Meidell - UiT
  4. Prof. Dag Lukkassen - UiT
  5. Dr. Harpal Singh (Project manager) - UiT
  6. Daniele Storni (Ph.D. Student) - UiT
  7. Jørn Eldby (Project leader) - UiT
  8. Dr. Roy Eivind Antonsen – SINTEF Narvik
  9. Dr. Christian Petrich – SINTEF Narvik
  10. Dr. Megan O'Sadnick- SINTEF Narvik
Funding

Troms Fylkeskommune

Financial grant

NOK 2,500,000

Project duration

01.06.2024 – 31.05.2026

Master theses
  1. Design of permanent structural health monitoring system for real time damage detection in Skattørsundet Bridge. Author: A.K.M. Bayazid. Date: May 15, 2025
  2. Finite Element Modeling of Skattørsundet Bridge. Author: Joseph Nyamayaro Date: May 15, 2025
  3. Shell based finite element modeling of Herøysund Bridge, Zeeshan Azad, Master’s Thesis in Engineering Design, UiT, May 2023.
  4. Beam based finite element modeling of Herøysund Bridge, Patrick Norheim Berg, Master’s Thesis in Engineering Design, UiT, May 2023.
  5. Review and application of optimal sensor placement on Herøysund Bridge, Macdonald Nwamma, Master’s Thesis in Engineering Design, UiT, May 2023.
  6. Development of digital twin of the Herøysund Bridge using finite element model updating, Mohammadreza Khademi, Master’s Thesis in Applied Computer Science, UiT, 2024.
  7. Numerical modelling of damage conditions on Herøysund Bridge in Herøy Municipality, Nordland Norway, Christopher Odongo, Master’s Thesis in Engineering Design, UiT, May 2024.
PhD theses
  1. Development of engineering and mathematical based methods for improved decision making in infrastructure maintenance, Daniele Storni, Work in Progress
  2. Some new mathematical and engineering results connected to structural problems, Harpal Singh, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 2021
Publications
  1. More on contributions of non-separable spaces to solving the evolution equation: the case of weighted generalized Morrey spaces. Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications Authors: Per-Johan Nicklasson, Natasha Samko, Harpal Singh and Daniele Storni (Level
  2. Analysis of civil engineering infrastructure in Norway with solutions based on structural health monitoring and artificial intelligence, Kristoffer Tangrand and Harpal Singh, Journal of Non-Linear Studies, 2023.
  3. A comprehensive study of wavelets and artificial intelligence algorithms for SHM and its application to a concrete railway arch bridge, Harpal Singh, Kristoffer Tangrand and Niklas Grip, AIP Conference Proceedings, INCPAA Prague 2023.
  4. Shell-based finite element modelling of Herøysund bridge in Norway, Harpal Singh, Zeeshan Azad, Vanni Nicoletti, Journal of Modelling, 2024.
  5. Research on wavelets and artificial intelligence algorithms for structural health monitoring of concrete bridges, Daniele Storni, Harpal Singh, Kristoffer Tangrand and Niklas Grip, Journal of Mathematics in Engineering, Science & Aerospace, 2024.
  6. A note on methods of analysis and function space used in some engineering problems, Harpal Singh, The 50, 70,80 Conference in Mathematics, Karlstad, Accepted for Publication in conference proceedings, 2024.
  7. Modelling and dynamic identification of concrete bridge in cold climate region, Daniele Storni, Giuseppe Occhipinti, Harpal Singh and Per Johan Nicklasson, The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IBASE), Tokyo, Japan, Paper in progress, 2025.