Statens vegvesen (The Norwegian public roads administration) has approved Skanska's solution to overcome the weak zone that has led to landslides in the Gullberg tunnel. Work on the tunnel is underway again.

At the beginning of January, the tunnel drivers met Skanska on a weak zone in the Gullberg Tunnel on Ops Hålogalandsvegen. It is run at Tjeldsundet south of Harstad. For the sake of safety, driving was stopped, and both internal and external resources have subsequently worked to reach a safe solution.

- For Skanska, the most important thing is to ensure the safety of those who work for us, but we also wanted to ensure the best possible progress, explains Skanska project director Are Eliassen.

Now the contractor and the client have agreed to create a temporary bypass tunnel past the problem area, a so-called bypass tunnel. The bypass tunnel will be about 100 metres long. Once in place, three advantages are obtained:

• The contractor can continue to operate and furnish the tunnel as planned while the security work in the loose material zone is ongoing.
• The contractor extracts the stone mass on the right side of the tunnel, where the stone will be used for road construction.
• The contractor can drive through and secure the weak area from two sides, at the pace required by the security measures, without compromising progress.

- We are pleased with the solution Skanska has launched, which is the best solution for safety, propulsion and the environment. Says Project Manager at Statens vegvesen, Reidar Johansen.

It is too early to say how much more expensive the additional work will make the tunnel, but the delay will not affect the completion of the OPS project. The bypass tunnel will be closed when the main tunnel is fully operated and permanently secured. The Gullberg tunnel is a three-arm tunnel with a roundabout that will connect rv. 83 towards Harstad with E10 towards Lodingen and E10 over the Tjeldsund Bridge, towards Evenes.

source Statens vegvesen.