ACCIONA and Nye Veier complete the excavation of the Hell tunnel

Yesterday, Nye Veier and ACCIONA marked the breakthrough in the new 3.9-kilometer-long Hell Tunnel. This milestone in the E6 Ranheim-Værnes project comes after 890 blasting and the excavation of 360,000 cubic meters of rock.

The blasting work were carried out from both sides of the tunnel until the meeting point between them was reached. The tunnel operation from Hommelvik started in April 2021, and on the Hell side of the tunnel in June the same year. A total of 392 blasting was carried out from the south and 468 from the Hell side.

- This is a great achievement. We are now embarking on the next phase of the project with great optimism. The work so far is a clear example of the good work done by our workers and partners. They have succeeded in performing complex and challenging tasks together, especially those who have worked inside the tunnel, says Linda Mørk, deputy project director at ACCIONA.

- Nye Veier is very pleased that we have now completed the blasting work on the construction of the Hell tunnel. This is an important milestone moving forwards to an improvement of the E6 from Ranheim to Værnes in terms of capacity and traffic safety, says Grim Rønsberg, project manager at Nye Veier.

The work will now continue in the Hell tunnel, with fitting out and completion of the tunnel with surface water systems, electrical installations, road construction and safety equipment. This includes blasting of side tunnels and ditches, but also less noisy work such as the establishment of a road and fittings in the tunnel. Over time, the work will be moved from the inside of the tunnel to work outside with the construction of a road in the day zone.

Those who live near the tunnel will notice a significant reduction in the transport of excavated material, which will help reduce both dust and noise from the project. Over time, the inhabitants of the area will also experience that there is a need to close the road less often than before, but for some time to come, the closures will continue as before.

The next step will involve safety checks and tests before motorists can drive through the new tunnel, which can take place in 2024.

The breakthrough in the 1.6-kilometer-long Være tunnel, which is also part of the E6 Ranheim-Værnes project, took place in March this year. It is expected that the breakthrough in the third tunnel, the Stavsjøfjell tunnel, will take place within short time.

The project: E6 Ranheim-Værnes

ACCIONA, together with its client Nye Veier, is building the E6 motorway between Ranheim and Værnes, which will improve connectivity in the northern part of the county of Trøndelag (central Norway).

The project involves the design and construction of 23 kilometres of motorway, including 7.2 kilometres of tunnels and five new two-level intersections. The route also includes three new road bridges which, like the tunnels, will run parallel to the existing structures.

Thanks to this new infrastructure, the existing road will be widened from two to four lanes, improving mobility in the region. The construction work, which started in 2020, is expected to be completed in 2026.

• 23 kilometres of four-lane motorway with a mid-section of ordinary road
• 2 kilometres of the section are underground
• Være Tunnel: 1.6 km
• Stavsjøfjell Tunnel: 1.7 km
• Hell Tunnels: 3.9 km

All the tunnels will be double, which will increase the traffic throughput, considerably improve safety and reduce the need for diversions in the event of, for example, accidents and the performance of maintenance work.

• 5 new two-level intersections
• 3 new road bridges
• Several overpasses and cross-drainage culverts

Hell Tunnel

• 890 blasting operations

360 000 cubic meters of rock have been taken out. Much of the stone will be used in the construction of the new road.

https://www.acciona.com/updates/articles/acciona-nye-veier-complete-excavation-hell-tunnel/?_adin=11551547647