In the Osloregion (Oslo = Capital of Norway) many dual purpose rock installations are under construction. (1980) In peacetime they will be used as sports halls and swimming pools. In the event of war they can easily be converted into very good civil defense shelters. Five such installations are shortly described here. Norway is a relatively large country. It is approximately 50% larger than Western Germany. But while W. Germany has 62 mill. inhabitants, Norway has only 4 mill. 70% of the land is covered by rock. Installations in rock is therefore a Norwegian tradition. The activity in tunneling and rock blasting have several decades been very high. Planned tunnel length pro anno and pro million inhabitants for the period 1970–79 was 19 km compared to the average value for DECO-countries which was 3,2 km. Since 1916 nearly 150 hydro-power plants have been constructed in rock. This number is more than 50% of the total number in the world. It has given considerable experience to the designers as well as to the contractors. This has benefited planning, design and construction of a large number of other underground installations throughout the country ranging from caverns for storage purposes for different products such as oil, gas, ore, flour, paints, frozen food to drinking water reservoirs, sewage plants, parking lots, factories, telecommunication centers, swimming pools and sports halls. The defense and civil defense have also long traditions in rock installations. The first sports hall in rock was finished in 1972 in the small town Odda on the west coast. The main hall (fig. 2) is 25 by 60 m which makes it adequate for playing international handball games. The total volume of this installation is 25 000 m3•. The first swimming pool in rock was finished in 1975 situated in the small inland town Gjøvik. The installation contains a 25 m pool with 6 lanes, a smaller pool for beginners, a gym, saunas and ancillary areas. The total volume is 11.500 m3• Of special interest is the fact that the energy consumption for running this underground public bath and swimming pool has been cut down to 45% of what would have been necessary for a similar building on the surface. Fig. 3. The experience gained, both for the sports hall and swimming pools, is very good. Five such installations will be shortly described, but first some general comments.

DUAL PURPOSE INSTALLATIONS

Rock installations have a surprising resistance against weapon effects ranging from direct hit from conventional weapons to all the effects from nuclear weapons. Thus all these installations have a dual purpose: sports halls or swimming pools etc. in peacetime, civil defense shelters in wartime. The local community is by law responsible for building the installation, but approximately 2/3 of the cost is paid by the state government because it also can be used as a shelter. This makes it cheaper for the community to build in rock, compared to a construction in the open air.

This content is only available via PDF.
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.