diff --git a/CMakeLists_files.cmake b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
index 519697d43..c966157d5 100644
--- a/CMakeLists_files.cmake
+++ b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ list (APPEND MAIN_SOURCE_FILES
 list (APPEND TEST_SOURCE_FILES
 	tests/test_block.cpp
 	tests/test_boprops_ad.cpp
+	tests/test_span.cpp
 	tests/test_syntax.cpp
 	)
 
diff --git a/opm/autodiff/AutoDiffHelpers.hpp b/opm/autodiff/AutoDiffHelpers.hpp
index 1fba87159..ca05b61e4 100644
--- a/opm/autodiff/AutoDiffHelpers.hpp
+++ b/opm/autodiff/AutoDiffHelpers.hpp
@@ -485,6 +485,10 @@ public:
             ASSERT(span_ == rhs.span_);
             return index_ != rhs.index_;
         }
+        int operator*()
+        {
+            return (*span_)[index_];
+        }
     private:
         const Span* span_;
         int index_;
diff --git a/tests/test_span.cpp b/tests/test_span.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a8c0c868
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_span.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2013 SINTEF ICT, Applied Mathematics.
+
+  This file is part of the Open Porous Media project (OPM).
+
+  OPM is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  OPM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with OPM.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#if HAVE_DYNAMIC_BOOST_TEST
+#define BOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK
+#endif
+
+#define BOOST_TEST_MODULE SpanTest
+
+#include <opm/autodiff/AutoDiffHelpers.hpp>
+
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(OneArgConstr)
+{
+    const int num = 4;
+    const Span s(num);
+    BOOST_CHECK(s.size() == num);
+    for (int i = 0; i < num; ++i) {
+        BOOST_CHECK(s[i] == i);
+    }
+    int count = 0;
+    for (Span::const_iterator it = s.begin(); it != s.end(); ++it) {
+        BOOST_CHECK(*it == count);
+        ++count;
+    }
+    BOOST_CHECK(count = num);
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ThreeArgConstr)
+{
+    const int num = 3;
+    const int stride = 7;
+    const int start = 5;
+    const int seq[num] = { start, start + 1*stride, start + 2*stride };
+
+    const Span s(num, stride, start);
+    BOOST_CHECK(s.size() == num);
+    for (int i = 0; i < num; ++i) {
+        BOOST_CHECK(s[i] == seq[i]);
+    }
+    int count = 0;
+    for (Span::const_iterator it = s.begin(); it != s.end(); ++it) {
+        BOOST_CHECK(*it == seq[count]);
+        ++count;
+    }
+    BOOST_CHECK(count = num);
+}
+