To the government: Invest in technology

- Spend as much on monitoring technology as a small handful of new tunnels and bridges. That way, the majority of all road and rail sections at risk of collapse and the country's bridges can be secured with monitoring and warning," says Odd Sverre Østlie, CEO of Cautus Geo.

The government's advice on sensors and technology came during the government's input meeting in Hamar on Friday 28 October. Cautus Geo is one of the invitees who advised the government. The meeting is part of the work on the white paper on floods and landslides.

A white paper on floods and landslides is currently being prepared. The government's goal is to present the report in spring 2024. Energy Minister Terje Aasland, who attended the input meeting in Hamar, tells regjeringen.no that "it's about saving lives".

Natural hazards

Cautus Geo has been monitoring and warning of natural hazards since 2009. The key words are technology, sensors, continuous and automatic monitoring and warning. New technology has been developed for better and safer monitoring and warning of rockfalls, avalanches, floods and stormwater. "It's all about protecting lives, machinery, equipment and property," says Østlie.

The background to the White Paper on floods and landslides is several serious flood and landslide incidents in recent years. Climate change is leading to more dramatic weather and more extreme weather, such as the extreme weather event Hans.

- We need to prepare for more serious flooding and landslide events. The Gjerdrum landslide in 2020 and the extreme weather event Hans in 2023 are examples that show how great the consequences can be. We must learn from the experience we have gained so far," says Aasland to regjeringen.no.

Extreme weather Hans

The extreme weather Hans created problems for many. The Gardermoen railway had to park trains in central Eastern Norway. Bane NOR wanted to ensure that the railway bridge over the river Leira was stable.

- We emergency instrumented the bridge. It took one night. The next day, the aeroplane train passed over the bridge at 220 kilometres per hour. We would have picked up the slightest movement in the bridge. The instrumentation, with automatic and continuous monitoring, safeguarded the passengers and the trains," says Østlie.

Cautus Geo has been monitoring and protecting us against natural hazards since 2009. It started with instrumentation on Mannen. Since then, several mountains classified as high risk have been monitored. This is carried out together with NVE, with a framework agreement as the basis for the collaboration.

Automatic and continuous monitoring is carried out to safeguard ground conditions, buildings and facilities, transport, bridges, dams, avalanches, rockfalls, landslides, stream hazards and stormwater.

The potential for improved safety is huge.

- Many roads, railway lines, buildings and facilities can be secured for modest sums. Technology-based monitoring costs barely a fraction of a bridge or a tunnel.

Recommend sensors

- We need more instrumentation. We have a large number of older bridges. Knowledge and continuous information about the condition will make it safer for road users and prevent accidents. It is unnecessary for solid and well-built bridges to unexpectedly break down and jeopardise life, health and assets. It is possible to have safe knowledge. The key is instrumentation with sensors and monitoring systems that ensure continuous and automatic monitoring with warning and closure of the road and railway," says Østlie.

"It prevents sudden and acute incidents where lives and materials can be lost," he says. It is a rare exception that structures collapse or break without any movements being registered in advance," says Østlie.

Manual measurements are often carried out at construction sites and to check ground conditions and infrastructure.

- "Unlike people and manual measurements, technology-based monitoring provides automatic and continuous measurement. It minimises sources of error and inaccuracies and will alert you if something is happening in the ground, with the ground conditions or in the structures," says Østlie.

Smart and affordable

Technology-based monitoring with alerting is profitable.

- Sensors and technology are less expensive than physical protection or manual measurements and provide ongoing factual knowledge. It provides precise information about the weather, bodies of water, ground conditions, snow and rock masses. It is possible to make the world a safer place by using tried and tested technology," says Østlie.

Securing roads and railways in landslide-prone areas is often synonymous with tunnelling. Exposed bridges are often monitored through inspections.

- If we put a few bridges on hold, we can instrument most of our road and railway bridges. If we replace a few new tunnels with instrumentation, society can secure most of the exposed road sections against avalanches and rockfalls. The technology is here. In many cases, it can replace tunnels. Other times it can be used in conjunction with other measures," says Østlie.