Olaf Stang

{{Short description|Norwegian engineer (1871–1956)}}

File:Fyksesundbroen.jpg

Olaf Stang (10 June 1871 – 14 November 1956) was a Norwegian engineer.

He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway.{{cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Olaf Stang|first=|last=|encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon|editor=|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Olaf_Stang|language=Norwegian|accessdate=12 April 2010}} He was a son of county treasurer Wilhelm Baltazar Stang (1838–1916) and Petra Sørensen. In 1898 he married Olavia Stang from Halden.{{cite encyclopedia|year=1948|title=Stang, Olaf|encyclopedia=Hvem er hvem?|editor=Steenstrup, Bjørn|publisher=Aschehoug|location=Oslo|url=https://runeberg.org/hvemerhvem/1948/0500.html|page=500|language=Norwegian|access-date=24 February 2012}}

He was a second cousin of Jørgen Breder Stang and Ole A. Stang, second cousin once removed of the latter's sons Axel Heiberg Stang and Thomas Stang, third cousin of Emil and Fredrik Stang,{{cite encyclopedia|year=|title=Stang – yngre haldenslekt|first=Terje|last=Bratberg|encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon|editor=|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Stang/yngre_haldenslekt|language=Norwegian|accessdate=12 April 2010}} and one of his aunts married Johan Peter Weisse.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Weisse, Johan Peter|encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|publisher=Aschehoug|location=Oslo|editor=Jansen, Jonas |editor2=Anker, Øyvind |editor3=Kaldhol, Bjarte|edition=1st|first=Leiv|last=Amundsen|authorlink=Leiv Amundsen|year=1977|volume=18|pages=387–392|language=Norwegian}}

He finished his secondary education in 1889 and graduated from the Royal School of Drawing in 1894. He was hired in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in the same year. From 1920 to 1939 he was chief engineer and head of bridge construction. He is best known for his design of suspension bridges including Fyksesund Bridge (Fyksesundbrua) which spans the Fyksesund fjord on the road between the villages of Øystese and Ålvik in the municipality of Kvam in Hordaland, Norway.

He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1939.