Posted on March 18, 2021
After two years of study and analysis, government approval has been given for the building of what is claimed to be the World’s first ship tunnel.
The vast project will link two protected stretches of water on the west coast of Norway and allow for safer winter passage-making along this wild coastline.
The approval came in the allocation letter from Norway’s Ministry of Transport and Communications to the Norwegian Coastal Administration, defining the tasks that are to be initiated. “We will now start the processes of acquisitioning properties in the area where the ship tunnel will be located, as well as put in place a project organisation, and then initiate and prepare a tender.” said Terje Andreassen, the project’s temporary manager for the Stadt Ship Tunnel.
The project is estimated to cost NOK 2.8 billion and NOK 75 million of this sum has been allocated for start up funding. The aim is to sign up a contractor during 2021, which will allow construction to start in 2022 and the project has a construction period of three to four years. “If everything goes according to plan, the world’s first full-scale ship tunnel will be completed in 2025/2026,” said Andreassen.
The construction of the tunnel will allow ships to bypass the exposed and dangerous waters of the Stadthavet Sea which is one of the most challenging areas along the Norwegian coast thus allowing shipping to stay in sheltered waters.
The tunnel will be 1700 metres long and its construction will require the removal of 3 million cubic metres of rock using blasting and drilling techniques. The completed tunnel will have a height of 25 metres above the water level and a water depth of 12 metres. The overall width will be 36 metres but an integrated fendering barrier on each side will reduce the shipping width to 26.5 metres. The proposed size of the tunnel has been largely dictated by the size of the Hurtigruten ferry ships that operate along the Norwegian coast but other users are expected to be cargo and fishing ships.
In addition to the tunnelling the project envisages alongside waiting areas at each entrance and there is also the possibility of establishing a commercial area at the tunnel and the prospect of making the tunnel a tourist attraction with the construction of a walkway through it.
By Dag Pike
