10 months after the first ointment was fired on the west side of Kolltveit, there is light at both ends of the two races on the Kolltveitt tunnel.

The breakthrough in the northern race occurs a small half year before the deadline in the OPS contract with Statens vegvesen (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration). Project manager at Statens vegvesen Lene Sælen Rivenes is pleased to be able to mark the impact already.

- It is great to celebrate breakthroughs in the first of a total of four road tunnels again. The actual impact we had yesterday morning at 11:30 am, but we take the celebrations and cake today. Work on blasting out a new Kolltveitt tunnel has been going on without problems or delays, something we are very happy with.

Deadline October 10 this year

The first blast for the tunnel was carried out on June 23 last year. According to the contract with Statens vegvesen, the deadline for impact was October 10 this year.

- Excavating the Kolltveitt tunnel has gone according to plan, with good cooperation between Sotra Link Construction as a main contractor, and LNS as a subcontractor. We think it is fun to reach the milestone 2 almost half a year before the deadline set by Statens vegvesen, says Christopher M. Bjerke, project manager at the OPS company Sotra Link.

Project Director at Sotra Link Construction Pedro Manuel Rodríguez Hernández says that Sotra Link Construction had a breakthrough on the southern race in late March this year, but it is not before now that the milestone has been reached. Because it is, there must be light at both ends of the two tunnels before it is officially a breakthrough.

- I am very pleased that on April 24 we reached the breakthrough of the northern course of the Kolltveitt tunnel. This is a great day for all of us, and I would especially like to thank our tunnel team for the efforts and professional attitude they have for the project, says Pedro Manuel Rodríguez Hernández.

Over 500 blasts have been completed

As one can see from the picture, there are not big holes net now, but it is not many days before the entire profile is blown out. Over 500 blasts are fired in the two tunnel runs since start -up last summer, and over 200,000 cubic meters of mass are transported out of the tunnel. The tunnel is 940 meters long, gets two driving lanes in the direction, and has three cross passages between the two tunnel runs for night out in the case of accidents or fire.

Holet through the mountain is just the start

Of course, there must be light in both ends of the tunnel, but he is far from finished. Now LNS starts work on spray concrete on the tunnel surface and mounting ankarbolt. After that, the subcontractor Hylland will go in to blast trenches in the tunnel, and already in August, work begins to work on the tunnel with stream, water and wastewater. It should also be mounted prefabricated elements along the tunnel walls, also called the liners.

The last part of the job is the installation of lighting, fans, fire extinguishing equipment and safety systems in the tunnel. Then, extensive tests of the safety system in the tunnel wait before it can be approved and open to traffic. The tunnel opens for traffic together with the rest of the national highway facility on June 1, 2027.

Near full activity at the facility

There is activity in 9 of the 11 areas the project is divided into. Of work that is going on now is between the other casting of the bridge bridges on the new Sotrabrua. The cast is the farthest on the sotrasida where they now have come up 18 meters. The teases are 145 meters high when they are done. Driving the longest of the four tunnels, the Drotningsviktunnel, which is about 2000 meters, is and well underway. There they have come about 300 meters into both of the new races. In June, the blasting of the Straumet tunnel will start, which will go under the Straume municipal center, and further west there is between other work on pelting for new bridges over the Straumssundet.

About the project

New Sotrasamband (Sotras Connection) includes the construction of 9.4 km of four -lane road. The project includes a new four-lane bridge of about 900 meters, with a separate pedestrian and bicycle path. The new road system gets and pedestrian and bicycle paths.

The OPS contract (public -private cooperation), which is awarded to Sotra Link, has a value of NOK 19.8 billion. The contract was signed in May 2022, and the construction period for a new four -lane road is five years. The national road system will open for traffic in June 2027.

Sotra Link finances, projects, builds and will operate and maintain the road system for 25 years after traffic opening in 2027. The contract is the largest single contract signed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration up of all time. The total framework for the project is 23.1 billion 2022-kroner, including preceding work that started in 2018.

image (Karoline Rage/Statens vegvesen) and information from Statens vegvesen.

Information from Sotra Link:

The new Sotrasamband (Sotras Connection) is a public-private collaboration (OPS). Sotra Link AS has signed an OPS contract with Statens vegvesen (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration) to finance and implement the project. Sotra Link AS is owned by Ibsen Investment Holdings (managed by Macquarie), Webuild and SK Ecoplant. Sotra Link AS has put the work in the contract for two main contractors. It is the company Sotra Link Construction JV ANS that projects and builds the road. Intertoll Norge AS is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the road when it is completed. Sotra Link Construction JV ANS consists of the construction companies Webuild, FCC Construcción and SK EcoPlant.