work with a model which involved a foreign loan, but eventually failed to receive permission from the Ministry of Finance. Instead the toll company started negotiating with domestic banks, and in September 1984 the company agreed to borrow up to 600 million 1983-NOK and 1.2 billion 1991-NOK, without public guarantees, from Den norske Creditbank (DnC) and Nevi. The toll company needed permission from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to establish a toll for the bridge, but they deemed the project so large that it would have to be voted over by Parliament. This required the company to document issues such as capital need, repayment, traffic estimates, which was first completed in April 1986. It was then processed by the Public Roads Administration. Parliament's Standing Committee on Transport and Communications visited Bergen on 29 October 1987. Building of both the Askøy Bridge and the Nordhordland Bridge were passed by Parliament on 9 December. The Askøy Bridge was passed unanimously, but both the Progress Party and the Socialist Left Party voted to cease the collection of advanced tolls. The toll company was given the responsibility to finance the bridge, while the Public Roads Administration would be the builder and retain ownership of and maintenance of the bridge. The agreement with DnC was made on 9 January 1989, but Nevi had fallen into financial difficulties and the toll company feared it would not be able to meet its obligations. Nevi's new owner, Bergen Bank, was not willing to guarantee for the loan, and instead DnC offered to lend the entire capital. In March, the toll company contacted the Ministry of Transport to attempt to gain a state guarantee for the loan, which would result in a lower interest. This was rejected by the ministry on 18 April, and a similar application to the county was also rejected. National Road 555 has cost overruns of NOK 150 million and in 1989, the toll company offered to cover NOK 30 million of those on condition that they were refunded the capital between 1994 and 1996. John Sørensen was hired as managing director for the toll company from 1 July 1990; until then the work had been done by the board and consultants. Construction Construction began on 24 April 1989. This not only included work on the bridge itself, but also National Road 562 from the bridge at Storeklubben to Krokåsskiftet and National Road 563