The most demanding week since the road opened

- "This has been the most demanding week since the road opened almost 15 years ago," says Trond Heia, CEO of Agder OPS. The company operates the stretch of highway between Kristiansand and Grimstad.

From the start of the heavy snowfall in southern Norway on New Year's Eve until it stopped snowing four days later, a record-breaking fleet of machinery was at work to keep the E18 open.

- "Normally, we have ten machines on the road for plowing. This time we had at most 25 machines working at the same time. Even so, there were periods when the road was less passable as trucks and other larger vehicles got stuck," says Heia.

"The E18 is defined as critical infrastructure and must always be kept open.

- "We managed to do this despite periods of snow flurries and no visibility, and three-meter-high snow banks along the road. The collaboration with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the police, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the Road Traffic Control Center and road users who took the call to leave their cars on the road helped ensure that the E18 was always open during a very difficult period," says Heia.

He especially praises the plow operators.

- "They have made a tremendous effort through the storm. We would never have succeeded without them," says Heia.

The response period is still ongoing, but with fewer resources. The focus is now on snow clearance, repairing electrical installations and cleaning signs, among other things.