A planned large-scale ship tunnel would provide a safe shortcut across Norway’s Stad Peninsula, avoiding a notoriously dangerous stretch of coast where multiple shipwrecks have occurred. The first project of its kind is scheduled to begin construction next year.
Kystverket, the Norwegian Coastal Administration, selected a team from Oslo-based design and build contractor AF Gruppen, along with Sanvika, Norway-based engineers Norconsult, for the turnkey contract, the companies announced on June 26. The estimated value is the equivalent of about $560 million, according to AF Gruppen.
“It is rare that, as a design and build contractor, we have the opportunity to take on such a unique infrastructure project, which attracts significant local, national and international interest,” AF Gruppen CEO Amund Toftum said in a statement. The contractors did not immediately respond to inquiries about the project.
The tunnel is expected to stretch approximately 1 mile between the Moldefjord and Kjodepollen. At about 165 feet tall and 120 feet wide, it would accommodate vessels up to 53 feet wide and with a draft of up to 40 feet, according to the coastal authority.
Courtesy of the GroupIn addition to the tunnel itself, the contract includes the construction of approach and guide structures, the removal of excavated rock, the dredging of navigation channels and the development of commercial areas near the tunnel portals.
Contractors will begin detailed design in collaboration with the Coastal Administration in August. Construction will begin in early 2027, Einar Vik Arset, director general of the coastal administration, said in a statement. The works are expected to last about five years.
The team led by AF Gruppen beat two others that applied for the job, Eiffage Génie Civil and the Skanska/Vassbakk & Stol consortium, according to the coastal administration.
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“We have been fortunate to have highly qualified and committed bidders participating in this competition,” Arset said in a statement.
The coastal administration estimates the total cost of the project to be about $870 million. Several contracts are still being tendered, including one covering the demolition of buildings near the tunnel site and another for the installation of water pipes on both sides of the tunnel.
Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament, recently approved a revised budget allocating the initial $15 million for the project.
In addition to improving the safety of ships passing through the area, Norwegian officials say the tunnel will significantly reduce travel time, enabling express boat service between the cities of Bergen and Alesund, while reducing fuel use and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
