Veidekke builds Oddernes tunnel in Kristiansand
The contract also includes a completely new road intersection between E18 and the Torrisdal road, and demolition of the onshore section of the old Oddernes Bridge. In addition, the contract includes tunnel gates with retaining walls made of concrete, noise baffles, a green area outside the tunnel gates and walls made of natural stone. Coordination of technical enterprises and sub-contractors is also part of the contract.
In a letter in connection with the contract, the Public Roads Administration has stated that: "The chosen solution is of a good quality and is operation and maintenance friendly. It also attends to traffic management, the inconvenience for the neighbours and the time of delivery in a satisfactory way. The chosen tender provides good security against future price increases. After a total assessment, this alternative stands out as financially most advantageous to the roads administration."
The contract includes responsibility for all necessary alterations of the E18 and crossing roads during the contract period. "There shall be normal traffic on all roads in the construction area during the whole construction period, so we will be facing a major challenge in this respect, says the project manager, Mr. Jørgen Reme.
The planning work has already started. The completion date has been set to 1 June 2004.
Veidekke will have a crew of 45 people on the project, 37 of which are skilled workers. Worth noting is that approximately 26 000 m3 concrete, 200 000 m3 of uncompacted material, 47 000 m2 sheet piles and 2 200 tonnes of reinforcement will be used in the tunnel construction.