Norsk

Stad ship tunnel: Four contractors have been prequalified

Stad ship tunnel
Four contractors are still competing to build the Stad ship tunnel. This is from the tunnel opening in Moldefjorden.
Photo:Kystverket / Multiconsult / LINK Arkitektur

Six contractors applied for prequalification to construct the Stad ship tunnel. Now, four have been qualified to submit bids.

Published
Updated
By Nedregotten, Sveinung.

– We have completed thorough evaluations of the interested contractors and are pleased to bring four solid contractor groups forward in the competition to build the world's first ship tunnel. We are ensuring healthy competition by going forward with these four contractors, and we believe this will impact both price and quality, says Director General Einar Vik Arset.

The project has been announced as a design-build contract with prequalification and negotiations. The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) received six requests to participate in the competition. These have been evaluated against the qualification requirements specified in the tender documents, including technical and professional qualifications. Four contractors are now considered qualified and invited to submit bids.

The contractors advancing are:

  • Joint venture: Skanska Norge AS and Vassbakk og Stol AS (Norway)
  • AF Gruppen Norge AS (Norway)
  • Eiffage Génie Civil (France)
  • Joint venture: Acciona Construcción S.A and Bertelsen og Garpestad AS (Spain/Norway)

This means that two Chinese joint ventures are out of the competition.

Absolute requirements

 – The qualification requirements are absolute. For the contractors, this round was about demonstrating technical and professional qualifications, especially through reference projects. The four contractors advancing have responded well to this, while the two excluded bidders have qualitative deficiencies, says Stad ship tunnel Project Manager Harald Inge Johnsen.

If the contractors' written documentation does not meet the qualification requirements, they must be rejected in accordance with procurement regulations.

– The Norwegian Coastal Administration's assessment is that the two excluded bidders have not documented sufficient experience of relevant nature and complexity, including work with injection in very hard rock and the design and execution of water and frost protection, says Johnsen.

In addition to technical and professional qualifications, the contractors are also evaluated concerning financial and ethical requirements, and ensuring all certifications are in order.

Meetings at Stad in March – Bidding phase

The four qualified bidders are invited to meetings at Stadlandet on March 10 and 11. There, they will receive more information about the project, including a site inspection of the tunnel areas.

– The goal is to showcase the tunnel areas, highlight challenges and risk factors, and answer questions to prepare the bidders to submit strong proposals for constructing the ship tunnel, says Johnsen.

Next steps

The initial bids are to be submitted by June 1. These will then be evaluated and negotiated, possibly in multiple rounds, before selecting the best offer based on the award criteria.

The goal is to sign the contract in the autumn of 2025 and commence construction in 2026. This depends on receiving bids within the project's budget framework. The Norwegian Coastal Administration estimates the construction period to be approximately five years.

Qualification requirements

The competition documents specify the following qualification requirements in chapter B2, Section 2.4 The contractor's technical and professional qualifications:

The supplier must have sufficient experience of relevant nature and complexity, including from the following key works, in prioritized order:

  • Execution of rock caverns with a span of at least 20 meters
  • Execution of works in cuts
  • Work with "very hard rock" (ISRM: UCS > 120 MPa), including rock extraction, rock support, and injection
  • Execution of water- and frost-proofing
  • Design related to all disciplines, cf. Items 1-4 and 6
  • Execution of concrete structures in or near seawater
  • Model-based design

About the Stad ship tunnel

The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) has been tasked with building the Stad Ship Tunnel, the world's first full-scale ship tunnel. The construction project will be carried out by a main contractor through a turnkey contract. It is scheduled to be announced in 2024, with construction potentially commencing in 2025.

The objective of the Stad Ship Tunnel project is to improve the navigability and safety of maritime transport around Stad, likely the most weather-exposed and dangerous stretch of sea along the Norwegian coast. Additionally, the project is to be optimized to extract other benefits.

The ship tunnel will be constructed at the narrowest point of the Stad Peninsula, between the Moldefjord and Kjødepollen, in the Vanylvsfjord. The tunnel will be 1.7 kilometers long (2.2 km including entrance areas), 50 meters high, and with a width of 36 meters. This means that vessels up to the size of the Coastal Route/Hurtigruten will be able to safely navigate past Stadlandet.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is a transport agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries. Our vision is to develop the coast and ocean areas into the world's safest and cleanest. The Stad Ship Tunnel is a part of this effort.

Read more

Go to top