Sweden makes Varberg, Stockholm contract awards 28 Jun 2018

Swedish transport authority Trafikverket has awarded tunnel contracts to Implenia and Strabag for the rail project below the town of Varberg and a further lot on the E4 bypass around Stockholm on the east coast respectively.

Implenia wins ECI first contract at Varberg, Sweden

The initial planning and design stage contract on the 3.1km long Varberg rail tunnel, signed last week (June 2018), is awarded to Implenia Sverige through the client's early contractor involvement (ECI) procurement process.

When bid documents went out at the end of 2017, five firms were shortlisted from a total of 11 applicants, three bids were received in early April and the award decision was made to schedule, TunnelTalk was told by Trafikverket regional procurement manager Jonas Melén. He said procurement had been “a long and thorough process.”

The planning and initial design contract for the Varberg rail tunnel is valued at SEK 200 million (US$22.5 million), which is part of the approximate total project construction budget of SEK 3440 million (US$387 million). The initial contract also includes some preparatory works.

Per Rydberg, Project Manager for Trafikverket, said in a statement: “We will first plan, and then plan what we will complete up to the start of construction, together with Implenia Sverige.”

Implenia Sverige will work on the initial approximately 15-month contract for the rest of this year and to the third quarter of 2019, and leads to the contractor offering a target price. Then, under the ECI process, the client will have the option reach agreement on the target price or decide its way forward with the project. The second stage would be the detailed design and build contract explained Melén.

Strabag Zublin wins Lovo lot in Stockholm

The rail tunnel will be excavated mostly by drill+blast below Varberg, in the Gothenburg region. The full project extends over approximately 9km and includes track and bridge works in a complex rail traffic environment. Trafikverket expects the tunnel to be open by the end of 2024.

Implenia group is also working on sections of rail tunnel refurbishment in the capital city Stockholm, and on the E4 bypass road tunnels.

Also working on the E4 bypass is Strabag group, which has just been awarded a further contract on the project running up the west side of the capital.

Strabag local subsidiary Zublin Scandinavia was last week awarded the FSE 309 lot on the E4 bypass at a contract value of SEK 505 million (US$57 million). The works comprise rock tunnels, service tunnels, concrete cuttings, a new four-lane road with junctions, and pedestrian and cycle paths.

E4 Stockholm bypass, Sweden

The lot is located at the Lovo interchange, which is a link between the bypass tunnel ramps and the surface road networks on Ekero/Lovo islands.

Par Land, Managing Director of Zublin Scandinavi said in a statement: “We are very pleased to have again gained the confidence of Trafikverket to build another stage of the Stockholm Bypass and to contribute to and develop the infrastructure in Stockholm.”

Strabag owns Zublin Scandinavia AB through Ed Zublin AG. The local contractor is already working on two contracts involving cut-and-cover concrete box and drill+blast works at the Akalla section of the 21km long road project.

In Sweden, Zublin is also working on the Marieholm immersed tube tunnel in Gothenburg.