In the fifties and sixties Norway had a huge program for hydro power developments, industrial plants and very long bridges crossing wide fjords, many of them using huge concrete structures. Offshore was something else.
It started with the Ekofisk concrete platform. It was developed in France. From nature we had the ability to build these huge structures inshore in deep fjords and take them out. This started people thinking, this was a storage tank, could it be utilized also for other purposes or drilling and production units. And then the Condeep concept was born. A series of platforms were constructed using advanced concrete technology.
This became a national industry. The concrete era in the North Sea came to an end for various reasons. However, similar concrete platforms are being built in Russia and in Newfoundland, both to withstand the ice load. The condeep technology is now being developed for constructing a ferry free road from Stavanger to Trondheim more than 11.000 kilometres with a number of very deep and wide fjords that have to be crossed. Offshore concrete technology is also moving into fish farming industry and for floating wind mills.
To keep up the legacy from the past is of vital importance when facing new challenges. Jan Moksnes is the former CEO of Norwegian Contractors, and played a leading role within the international concrete industry.
