The Norwegian Coastal Administration announced on October 1 that it had contracted AF Decom to demolish 18 buildings at and around the Stad Ship Tunnel construction sites, with work scheduled from mid-October to year-end.
Telemark Seaworx has a separate contract to install around 12 kilometres of subsea pipelines to provide the tunnel portal areas with water. Installation is due to begin in October and finish by April 2027.
Both contracts cover preparatory works separate from the main tunnel contract, held by AF Gruppen. Construction of the tunnel is expected to start in January 2027.
AF Decom will remove two buildings at Eidsstranda in Moldefjorden, 15 at Kjøde and one at Sneide/Kjøde. The administration expects demolition activity to be particularly noticeable at Kjøde.
Five suppliers submitted bids for the demolition work, with one rejected. After weighing price, climate and environmental factors, and sustainability, the administration selected AF Decom.
Telemark Seaworx will lay pipelines linking Åheim with the Kjøde portal and Moldestad in Moldefjorden with the southern portal at Eidsstranda. The works include landfalls and valve houses.
Stad and Vanylven municipalities helped plan the pipeline project and are contributing to its financing. The lines will also give them the option of connecting areas currently without municipal water supply.
The administration plans to extend the pipeline through the completed tunnel to connect the two municipalities’ water supplies. “This will allow the water supply systems in Stad and Vanylven to serve as backup for each other,” project manager Jarle Strand said.
The tunnel will extend 1,700 metres through the Stad peninsula, from Kjødepollen in the Vanylvsfjord to Moldefjorden near Selje. Its planned dimensions are 50 metres high and 36 metres wide.
