Record sub-sea tunnel construction delay

It will also cost more than originally anticipated. Kjartan J. Hove, head of the projects division at the Norwegian Roads Administration in Leikanger, told MJ that construction had been delayed and would not begin in 2012 as earlier reported.

“The reasons are many”, he added, noting that the most important of them was the need, under Norwegian law, for all municipalities involved to agree on where the new road and tunnel will run. He said this procedure, along with geological surveys, sometimes resulted in changes and delays.

“We hope to start building end 2014, he said, “but that will also depend on the results of risk assessment”. Completion has been tipped for 2017. Hove said invitations to tender would be international. “We are discussing, however, if there will be one contract or more”.

The Rogfast Tunnel will run to a depth of 350m below the Boknafjord and Kvitsøfjord on the North Sea coast of western Norway and will shorten the journey between Bergen and Stavanger by an hour.

It is set to break six world records. It will reportedly be the world’s longest car tunnel, submerged tunnel and four-lane tunnel, as well as the deepest car and four-lane tunnel, and will also have the world’s deepest road intersection.

Norway already boasts the world’s longest road tunnel, 24.5km, long between Oslo and Bergen and opened in 2000. The Rogfast tunnel will be more impressive. Its main tunnel system will branch out to the small island of Kvitsøy at a depth of 200m below sea level, creating the world’s deepest intersection.

Kjartan J. Hove told MJ the estimated cost of the project, was some NOK 7,500m (about €960m) and thus “a bit higher” than the previously tipped €500-600m.

By Tom Todd