Norway pushes ahead with Rogfast tenders 18 Oct 2017

NCC Norge has offered the lowest of six competing bids for the first tunnel package on the giant Rogfast subsea highway tunnel project in Norway.

The tender offer of NKr183.2 million (US$23.1 million) for the E013 Arsvågen Lot was just slightly less than the nearest bid of NKr184.9 million (US$23.3 million) from Marti Tunnelbau.

Route and contract packages of the Rogfast subsea highway

The other four bids were above NKr200 million and were submitted by:

• Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner – NKr213.3 million (US$26.9 million);
• Kruse Smith Entreprenør and Nordbø Maskin – NKr219.3 million (US$27.7 million);
• AF-gruppen Norge – NKr234 million (US$29.5 million); and,
• Implenia Norge and Stangeland Maskin – NKr246.9 million (US$31.2 million).

The E013 Arsvågen contract involves detailed design and drill+blast excavation of 4km of tunnels with cross-sections of 45m² and 75m².

With bids in for the first of the mega project contracts, the Norwegian national roads authority, Statens Vegvesen (NPRA), also called bids for the second E011 Mekjarvik tunnel package to be submitted by midday on 1 December Norwegian time.

The E011 Mekjarvik Lot involves drill+blast excavation of a 700m long tunnel, and is the smallest of the packages on the world-beating, 26.7km long twin-tube subsea fixed link project. With an estimate of about NKr101.5 million (US$12.8 million), acontract duration of about 13 months is anticipated for the works.

Statens Vegvesen expects to issue tenders for the three main tunnels contract – Kvitsøy, Harestad and Laupland – over the next nine months.

Construction is to progress from 2018 to 2025-26 below the Bokna fjord near Stavanger. The undersea highway will be one of Norway’s deepest with the alignment descending to almost 390m below sea level.