Norway replacing tunnel ventilation fans over safety concerns

Norway’s road authority is inspecting and replacing 1,500 ventilation fans in more than 70 tunnels due to fears they may fail and detach onto the roadway, Kringvarp Føroya reports.

The same fan model is used in the Faroese Sandoy Tunnel and the tunnels north of Fjall. Fríðrik Heinesen, a civil engineer at the Faroese public works agency Landsverk, said there are no current issues in the tunnels north of Fjall and that Landsverk is coordinating with Norwegian authorities to inspect and replace the defective units.

Heinesen declined to comment on the Sandoy Tunnel. Attempts to reach Una Danielsen, head of the tunnel association, were unsuccessful.