Oslo’s new main library, now under construction on the waterfront at Bjørvika, will be further delayed and cost much more than initially expected. City officials admitted on Wednesday that construction management hasn’t been satisfactory.
Much of the higher costs, estimated at around NOK 500 million, are blamed on water leaks and problems with foundation work at the site on muddy ground where construction also has been interrupted by archaeological examination.
A consultant’s report this week revealed that the new library is now expected to cost NOK 3.156 billion (USD 394 million) and likely won’t be finished until at least 2018 at the earliest. Raymond Johansen of the Labour Party, which is keen to oust the conservative city government, called the project another example of cost overruns on large public projects. “The city is admitting that their project management has been too weak,” Johansen told newspaper Dagsavisen.
Hallstein Bjercke, the city government leader from the Liberal Party in charge of cultural issues, called the cost overruns and delays “serious and sad, but we will build a fantastic new main library in Oslo.”
newsinenglish.no staff
