Press release - Work to build the world's longest and deepest undersea road tunnel is well under way from Bokn in the north to Randaberg in the south. Now the third major contract has been announced.

Entreprise 02 (E02), as it is called, i.e. the middle part of the Boknafjord tunnel as well as completion of the Kvitsøy tunnel, has now been laid out at Doffin.

The Boknafjord tunnel is being built with two continuous runs with a cross-section T10.5. In this contract, the Kvitsøytunnel will also be completed with water and frost protection, equipment for pools and technical buildings. The intersection between the two tunnels is shaped like an unplanned intersection in rock with two roundabouts.

The length is approximately 8.8 kilometres.

The undertaking also includes two ventilation shafts and an unplanned intersection in the tunnel with ramps and roundabouts. There will also be 1.6 kilometers of road a day, two bridges and a large embankment in the sea which will be used as commercial land.

This too is of course a competition with negotiations, and the Norwegian Road Administration intends to select three to five contractors or groups to negotiate with. The selection of the suppliers is based on  technical and professional qualifications according to a number of requirements.

This is the third of three main contracts for the construction of the main tunnel. The expected contract size is approximately NOK five billion. The work is particularly challenging in the area of junctions and shafts. Geology can also be challenging as the tunneling in this contract takes place in the area from approximately 230 meters below sea level to approximately 375 meters below sea level, says project manager for Rogfast, Oddvar Kaarmo, in a press release.

We will finish E15, i.e. the tunnel down from Kvitsøy before the summer holidays 2024, and the plan is to have a signed agreement for E02 in place at the same time, so that production in that contract can start after the summer holidays 2024. The plan is that it involves a sensible and seamless transition between the two sub-projects when a new or possibly new contractor takes over the baton, says Kaarmo. We are very much looking forward to getting started with the last of the three major contracts in this project. And the tasks in E02 will demand the utmost from everyone involved, he says.

End date for project E02 is 26 September 2030.

Estimated opening year for the whole thing is 2033.

The developer has the option to change the contract boundaries in the Boknafjord tunnel in order to get the best possible progress for the project as a whole.

The NPRA holds a bid conference on 9 August at Krågøy in  Kvitsøy. The deadline for submitting a request for qualification is 31 August.

Then it looks like this:

• On 3 October, an invitation will be sent to selected contractors to submit offers.
• December 20 is the deadline for the first offer.
• There will then be negotiations in several phases, and the final offer must be submitted on 8 March 2024.
• Contract signing is planned for 15 April 2024.

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