Oslo Fornebu Line design contract awarded 21 Sep 2017

Design of the 8.5km long Fornebu Line extension of the Oslo Metro to link the Fornebu peninsula to the Norwegian capital is awarded to the JV COWI A/S and Multiconsult ASA. The metro extension is the largest transport project in Oslo in more than 20 years.

Valkyrie Place to be transformed

The new metro line will run underground from the transport hub Majorstuen, west to Fornebu, a peninsula that was formerly the site of the International Airport in Oslo and has since been redeveloped into a mixed residential and business district. The latest National Transport Plan from the government calls for construction of the new line to begin in 2021 and complete in 2025.

COWI has significant metro design experience having worked on metro projects in Copenhagen, Doha and Athens and with all engineering disciplines in-house, COWI is able to deliver the full suite of services for the Fornebu extension. The project includes six new stations, the metro tunnel and the design of the underground maintenance centre in Fornebu.

"We are proud to be designing this exciting and hugely important project. As well as the classic tunnel engineering competencies, we will also be consulting on issues related to water and the environment. This shows that we can deliver multiple services on large and complex infrastructure projects,” said Lars-Peter Søbye, COWI CEO.

Exciting plans for new station

COWI specialises in tunnel design and metro projects and together with Multiconsult represent the largest metro, geotechnical and technical consultants in Scandinavia. With headquarters in Copenhagen, COWI aims to double its international involvement by 2020 and recently entered the UK market through the acquisitions of tunnel specialist Donaldson Associates and bridge specialists Flint & Neill.

COWI North America is comprised of former engineering consulting firms Buckland & Taylor, Jenny Engineering Corporation, Ben Gerwick and Ocean and Coastal Consultants.