A total of six companies participate in the worldwide competition to construct World’s First Ship Tunnel for Norway.
The competition comprises two Chinese companies in addition to two Norwegian firms along with one Spanish-Norwegian entity and one French company.
The tunnel construction announcement occurred during November previous year together with the submission requests deadline set for 31 January this year. The competition received bids from a total of six organizations including four Norwegian and two Chinese firms.
- A joint venture between Skanska Norge and Vassbakk og Stol (Norway)
- AF Gruppen Norge (Norway)
- A joint venture between PowerChina International Group, Sichuan Road and Bridge Corporation, Sinohydro Bureau 7, PowerChina Huadong Engineering (China)
- Eiffage Génie Civil (France)
- A joint venture between China Road and Bridge Corporation, CCCC Second Highway Engineering Co, CCCC Highway Consultants Co. (China)
- A joint venture between Acciona Construcción and Bertelsen og Garpestad (Spain/Norway)
The ship tunnel spans across the minimal width area between Moldefjord and Kjødepollen within Vanylvsfjord on the Stad Peninsula. This tunnel will reach 1.7 kilometers in length with dimensions of 50 meters in height and 36 meters in width to allow vessel passage through Stadlandet which is an area with known shipping accidents.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration through Kystverket announced that shipping through the structure would be handled through design-build contracts which require prequalification followed by negotiation processes.
The review process will examine documents from all bidders to validate their qualification standards.
The substantial number of interested companies reflects competitive bidding between potential contractors according to Stad ship tunnel project manager Harald Inge Johnsen.
When we declared our intention to invite between three and five bidders from this prequalification process we will ask them to submit their offers. A detailed evaluation process for the applications determines both the final participant number and the selected bidders according to the director.
The evaluation initiative of Kystverket will finish by March so the top qualified contractors together with joint ventures receive invitations to submit their proposals. The best offer selection will come after bid evaluation and negotiation through multiple rounds according to the award criteria.
A contract signature is anticipated before autumn 2025 which will start construction in early 2026 so long as all received bids fall within the funding specifications.
Construction work will last for a period of five years.
Read also Construction Plans Revealed for Poland’s Longest Rail Tunnel