Summary

The use of prefabricated beams in bridge building in Norway has dramatically decreased during the
last 20 years, even though it was very prominent in the 70s and 80s. In this bachelor’s thesis we look
at how previous experiences and attitudes in the construction sector hinders the building of new
multi-span prefabricated bridges in Norway. To answer our main research question, we operated
with two underlying research questions, where one focused on the durability of “newer”
prefabricated bridges, mainly focusing on the prefabricated beams and joints in the bridge body. The
other was to research the pros and cons of prefabrication as a building method for long multi-span
bridges. To answer the research question on durability we examined all prefabricated bridges built in
Norway after 1990 to get a picture of how a “modern” prefabricated bridge preforms with durability
in mind. After examining 346 bridges we found corrosion on 15 bridges, where we could conclude
the cause of corrosion to be incorrectly produced elements. For our other research question, we
interviewed people from the construction industry to get an insight in what they thought the pros
and cons of building with prefabricated beams were. We found transportation and lack of experience
to be the biggest hindrances for building with prefabricated elements.