Nordnes Tunnel opens
29 November 2018Norway – The Nordnes road tunnel has opened to traffic. The tunnel is located in the remote Lyngen Alps and forms part of Statens Vegvesen’s E6 motorway between Nordnes and Skardalen.
The 5.74km tunnel has a cross section of 74m², and a gradient of 1-1.5%. It required the excavation of 462,000m3 of rock. The total cost of the project was NOK 1.1bn (USD 130M).
Marti was the contractor and highlighted the remoteness of the project as a challenge. Oslo to the nearest city of Tromso is a 1:45 hour flight, and then there is a further two-hour drive to the site.
“The logistics were a challenge too in this remote area. Spare parts, machines and people took very long time until they arrived on the site. Deliveries of the required 22,500 rock bolts and 18,000m3 of shotcrete had to be scheduled to always arrive on time to be on the site in time.”
Of the hundreds of attendees at the opening ceremony, a spokesperson for the client said, “We think it’s very nice that so many people would attend the celebrations. This is a day many have been waiting for. The old road around the mountain is very slippery, so this is an important project in terms of road safety. Also, the project shortens the E6 by 8km.”
