By Ashley Karen
Statens Vegvesen, the Norwegian road authority, has awarded the JV between Implenia and Stangeland Maskin one of three essential contracts on E39 Rogfast, a substantial and complex subsea road tunnel project.
Implenia, the Swiss contractor, and Norwegian construction company Stangeland Maskin will start operation on a section of Statens vegvesen’s E39 Rogfast project– or Boknafjord tunnel – this month.
When operational, the tunnel is predicted to be the world’s longest and deepest subsea road tunnel, with a total length of 26.7km and a maximum depth of 392m under sea level. It will cross Boknafjord between the municipalities of Randaberg and Bokn in Rogaland County.
The joint venture partners are working on the E03 Boknafjord tunnel, one of the three essential tunneling contracts. It comprises an 8.6km long tunnel with two tubes, running from Harestad northwards to halfway between Tungenes and Kvitsøy.
Implenia has an 80% share of the joint venture. It is also in charge of the excavation and tunneling, plus the interior construction of the tunnel. Stangeland Maskin will supervise the transport of excavated material and the building of the road, plus drainage works.
Totally, the contract’s worth is NOK4bn (£332M), of which Implenia’s share is valued at about £266M.
Erwin Scherer, Implenia’s global head of tunneling expressed: “The project E03 Boknafjord tunnel is a large and complex infrastructure project in line with our strategy, where we can contribute our many years of experience and proven expertise in tunnel construction and related civil engineering disciplines.”
The Implenia and Stangeland Maskin joint venture has worked previously together on the Eiganes tunnel project and is currently working on the E39 Lyngdal project.
The E03 Boknafjord tunnel project is planned to be completed by 2030.
Skanska received a NOK5bn (£415M) contract last month to work on the northern part of the Boknafjord tunnel.
The E39 Rogfast project is a part of the wider £30bn “ferry-free” Coastal Highway Route E39 Project. It will assist in reducing travel times from 21 hours to 11 hours from Trondheim in the north to the southern city of Kristiansand, a route that currently includes seven ferry crossings.
