The Swiss construction group Implenia has won the first tunnel contract for the Fornebu line (Fornebubanen) in Norway’s Oslo railway plan. Implenia will build a 2.3 km long tunnel and related works between the future Lysaker and Fornebu stations, with a contract value of approximately US$141 million (131 million Swiss francs).

It will also build construction pits and rock wells at the future Flytårnet and Fornebuporten stations.

According to Cowi, the Danish engineering group that designed the route, Fornebubanen is the largest infrastructure project in Oslo since the 1970s, and is an 8.5-kilometer extension of the Oslo Railway to the Fornebu Peninsula.

According to Cowi, the Danish engineering group that designed this line, the Fornebubanen Metro consists of six new metro stations and is expected to cost approximately US$1.5 billion (NOK 13 billion). Implenia said it was selected because it can meet the contract's environmental requirements, implementation plan and BIM expertise.

Fornebubanen project manager Grete Tvedt said: "Bidders who have invested the most in alternative fuel technology and contributed to the electrification of machinery and facilities performed best in this competition."

"The focus on sustainability seems to have led to good solutions not only for environmental protection and climate protection, but also for the entire project. We look forward to good cooperation with Implenia on this important large-scale tunnel contract."

The project is scheduled to start in May 2021 and be completed in the fall of 2023. The entire Fornebubanen project is scheduled to be completed in 2027.Editor/Huang Lijun