The incredible £1.14bn road below the sea – deeper than the Channel | World | News
An incredible tunnel that is set to break records is currently under construction in Norway. The Rogaland Fixed Link, or Rogfast, is a sub-sea road tunnel in Rogaland County that will run between Randaberg and Bokn, with part of it connecting to the island of Kvitsoy.
The tunnel will stretch 17 miles at a maximum depth of 392 metres below sea level, which, compared to the Channel Tunnel, which runs 75 metres below sea level, is more than five times deeper. Not only that, but the remarkable depth and length of Rogfast will make it the longest underwater road tunnel and the deepest tunnel in the world.
Plans for the vast project were first made in 2017, with construction work starting in 2019 and expected to be completed between 2025 and 2026. However, the project was put at a halt due to costs being higher than planned.
It resulted in the government requesting a full review and a revised budget update for the project, and in late November 2020, the Norwegian Public Road Administration received new approval for the revised budget, with work set to start in 2021.
The tunnel is being built in phases, divided into three contracts. The first was signed with Skanska for the construction of the northern part of the tunnel, valued at nearly 5 billion NOK, equivalent to around £375.6 million.
The second contract with Implenia Norge is focused on the construction of the southern part of the tunnel at a cost of over £300 million, and the final main contract with Implenia and Strangeland was for the Rogfast Tunnel’s middle section and is the most expensive at a value of 6.2 billion NOK, which amounts to over £465 million.
This brings the total amount of the record-breaking tunnel to over £1.14 billion.
The basting phase in the Kvitsoy tunnel was completed in 2023, and as of now, significant work has already been done at both ends of the tunnel, with the tunnel at the halfway point of completion. It is expected to be fully operational by 2033.
