New railway will live for 100 years

A 22.5 km double track line is being built in Norway from Farriseidet to Porsgrunn, with seven tunnels and ten bridges, at a price of EUR 757 million (NOK 7.1 billion). The new track will be ready in late 2018. The benefits of building the new track include reduced travel times and increased safety for passengers and local residents thanks to the closure of level crossings, outdated tunnels and sections in danger of landslides. Jernbaneverket’s massive project breaks down into seven contracts, of which Caverion’s electrical work is the biggest technical contract.

An eight-week pilot project that requires a high volume of documentation will ensure that the new railway link in Norway Farriseidet-Porsgrunn will have a life cycle of 100 years – the first 30 of which will be nearly maintenance-free. With the objective of one technical building and 1 km of railway every 14 days, the pilot project will ensure record fast implementation of Caverion’s electrical work for the enormous project commis­sioned by Jernbaneverket, the Norwe­gian government agency for railway services. 

Per Morten Rostille, Caverion’s Pro­ject Manager, emphasises the impor­tance of the pilot project. “Good documentation of the pilot project is vital for completing the actual project ac­cording to the tight deadlines,” he says.Jernbaneverket’s Sub-Project Manager, Georg Kalland, nods his head.“Never before has Jernbaneverket set such high standards for documen­tation as for this project.But, I believe that Caverion has the skills required, with key personnel who have the right experience in complex engineering contracts,” he states.

Safe and reliable infrastructure for urban communities  

Erik Askheim, Caverion’s Project Plan­ner, explains how the 22.5 km railway line will be finished in record time.“Good documentation of the pilot will enable us to produce a manual for installation work later on in the project. The documentation will also lay the foundations for good management, oper­ation and maintenance going forward, so that we can ensure safe and reliable infrastructure for modern society.”Georg Kalland emphasises that Jern­baneverket is building for the future.“If we get it right the first time around, the track will be almost main­tenance-free for 30 years, apart from certain parts that have a shorter life cycle and will need to be replaced.”

Gathering the best from all of Caverion  

Caverion’s group leaders for the project, Jan Nybo and Stig Jarle Østgaarde, from Caverion’s Oslo office: “Oslo and Telemark & Vestfold are both contributing with installers, Trondheim is providing expertise within operations planning, HSE and quality assurance, Bergen is helping with high voltage and Caverion Sweden with switchboards.” Are Klausen from consulting engi­neers Sweco, a subcontractor to Caver­ion for the project, is in no doubt that Caverion has the right people. “Caverion has the best know-how within railway engineering in the industry. I am sure that this will be an excellent project,” he says.

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