Overall tunnelling increased in Norway in 2022 compared to the previous year, bringing the activities back up to be on par with historic high levels (1977 – 1998, apart from some dips) but it remains well below the recent, largest ever peaks (2012-2018), according to the latest roundup of annual national figures from the Norwegian Tunnelling Society (NFF – Norsk Forening for Fjellsprengningsteknikk).

Contractors most active in tunnelling production in 2022, according to the data, were Skanska, Implenia, Haehre and LNS – each with higher underground excavation output in total cubic metres than the prior 12 months. Next was Kruse Smith, dropping from first position in 2021. A big drop in total tunnelling activity was also reported for Veidekke in 2022 compared to the previous period, taking it from second position in 2021 to ninth in 2022.

Much of Norwegian tunnelling is hard rock tunnelling by drill and blast method. The 1970s and 80s saw some TBM tunnelling, which appeared again with notable sized machines a few years ago after a lengthy gap. The TBM tunnelling contributed to the more recent (2012-2018) peak in Norwegian tunnelling activity with significant contributions, primarily, to key railway projects, in Oslo and Bergen.

While the railway activity has reduced in transport tunnels, of late there is once again more activity in road tunnelling. Excavations for road tunnels were dominant during the recent peak years and included urban and subsea works around Stavanger as well as many regional road tunnels underway across the mountainous country. Now, in addition to such ongoing multiple projects, the excavations for the giant Rogfast subsea project are get going, also near Stavanger.

Also increasing of late, in the total tunnelling, is the share concerning water – with water supply increasing although the proportion of hydropower tunnelling is less than it was a few years ago. That is the reverse of the position before 2020, during the peak period.

SPOTLIGHT ON FIGURES:

Totals Norwegian tunnelling activity in 2022 totalled 5,127,384m3 (2021: 4,177,386m3) of excavation. The increase came after slight dip from 2020 levels, but all three years were above annual total tunnel excavation volumes in 2019 (3,881,330m3). But these recent years are well below the total annual tunnelling in Norway over 2012-18, mentioned earlier – during which the steadfast drill and blast activities saw TBM tunnelling in the market again on large diameter bores.

During those recent peak years, the level of activity was in excess of 5.8 million m3 – the level it tailed off to after starting around 6 million m3 over 2012-13 and staying above 7 million m3 over 2015-17.

The peak was in 2017 at 7,844,247m3.

Generally, since the early 1970s, total tunnelling activity has been more than approx 2.9 million m3. Only three years were below that level: 2000-1 and 2009.

Sectors

Viewed over five decades, since the 1970s, the main national sector served by tunnelling in Norway changed from hydropower to roads by the late 1980s, and since then highways have been the prime activity. Hydro has not gone away. It is a constant in Norway, still offering industry a notable quantity of tunnelling but it is down the rankings compared to its heyday.

While hydro tapered and then reduced dramatically, especially though the 1990s, rail tunnel work came in, although remained a low, fluctuating workload for contractors. There was an initial, brief burst of activity in the mid-1990s but then the volume of tunnelling notably picked up during the last decade, underpinning the peak in total tunnel excavations experienced in Norway.

By sector, Norwegian tunnelling activities in 2022 (2021) were:

Road 2,751,819m3 (1,330,486m3)

Water Supply 997,881m3 (275,500m3)

Storage Caverns 384,024m3 (891,229m3)

Underground/Metro 289,171m3 (264,444m3)

Rail 286, 422m3 (1,193,143m3)

Hydropower 256,783m3 (85,705m3)

Other 126,284m3 (136,879m3)

Sewerage 35,000m3 (0)

In 2022, tunnelling activity was dominated by the roads and water supply sectors by far. The prior year saw far less highways tunnelling but it was still first and foremost among the sectors, although it was then closely tailed by rail tunnel volumes and storage cavern excavations.

Roads also led the way back in 2020. Rail was ranked second and only beat – by a short margin – the tail off in what had been a few years of upsurge in hydropower. Back in 2019, hydropower tunnelling was almost equal to roads.

Over the few years prior, roads was by far and clear the main tunnelling activity in Norway. In recent times, it was only in 2013 that roads had less total tunnelling than any other sector – in that case Rail. The volume of tunnelling in the roads sector has significantly fluctuated annually, as have others. However, it continues to lead the pack even if the annual excavation volumes are much lower than over 2017-18 and previous high levels in 2010-12.

Of course, there are annual fluctuations in the tunnelling volumes of the other sectors, too.

While roads went from a high of 5 million m3 in 2016 down to only 1,330,486m3 in 2021 and up a little most recently, rail dropped from almost 1.7 million m3 in 2014 to less than 10% of that volume in 2019 (146,755m3)

Away from the 1970s heyday, hydro’s peak in more recent years was to brush up against 1.5 million m3 in 2015 and 2019, respectively. But, otherwise, hydro tunnelling has been at half that volume of activity or less – even down to under 86,000m3 in 2021.

Water supply tunnelling also fluctuates notably, even within the much higher levels of excavation activity that has been maintained since 2018 – reaching almost 1 million m3 in 2022.

Tunnelling activity volumes for excavating storage caverns is also highly variable. The sector had peak volumes in 1998, 2004-5, 2007-8, 2017 and 2021.

Compared to the other sectors of activity in Norway, underground metro tunnelling has been at generally lower levels in most years, except for 2014 and the uptick in more recent years.

Contractors

The contractor with the high volume of tunnelling in Norway in 2022 was Skanska with 1,237,441m3, which is more than double its activity (547,811m3) in the previous year

Second place in 2022 was Implenia with 952,197m3 – more than three times its tunnelling volume in Norway (304,304m3) in the previous 12 months.

Third ranked in 2022 was Haehre with 738,971m3, which was a far higher level of activity than the 153,200m3 reported in 2021.

LNS was fourth in the annual ranking, at 706,508m3, which is slightly ahead of its volume of tunnelling activity in the

Contractor Kruse Smith was in firth ranked position in 2022 with a volume of tunnelling activity of 329,091m3, which is about one third of the previous year’s activity (960,513m3) that gave it the number one spot.

Second to Kruse Smith in 2021 was Veidekke, which then had tunnelling activity of 627,587m3 for the year. However, most recently, the tunnelling volume was far down, at 98,500m3 which put it into ranked ninth placed in 2022.

In 2022, between Kruse Smith’s firth place and Veidekke’s ninth position was AF with 266,000m3 (2021: 0), Birkeland with 224,125m3 (167,317m3), and Flage Maskin with 138,500m3 (98,960m3).