E16 Øye–Eidsbru, Norway

The contract was for a section of European route E16, the most important connection between the Norwegian capital of Oslo and the country’s second largest city of Bergen on the west coast. The Øye–Eidsbru section is roughly halfway between the two cities and involved the construction of 4.5 km of new main road and 2.1 km of secondary roads, with a 1,970 m long tunnel at the heart of the project built conventionally through drilling and blasting.
 
The geographical location and the associated climatic challenges represented a particular difficulty. The section is located on the so-called Filefjell (1,920 m), a mountainous area where the road reaches its highest point at 1,013 m above sea level. Temperatures as low as -25 °C in winter with enormous amounts of snow characterise the Scandinavian winter here.