Spanish infrastructure firm ACCIONA Construction has secured a Nkr4bn (€410m) contract from Norway’s Nye Veier to design and construct a section of the E6 highway between Ranheim and Værnes in the Trondheim Region.

Nye Veier operates as a Norwegian Government-owned road planning, construction, operation and maintenance firm.

The contract includes the design and construction of a four-lane 23km stretch of the E6 highway, which includes 8km running underground through four tunnels measuring between 1km and 4km each.

The highway section will include eight bridges, and it runs partly along the route of the existing road, except for the tunnels, which will be built parallel to the existing ones.

“ACCIONA is constructing twin 18.5km-long tunnels, which are said to be the longest in Norway, with Italian company Ghella to connect the cities of Oslo and Ski.”

As part of the project, the existing two-lane road will be converted into a four-lane highway to improve mobility in the north of Trøndelag County.

Construction work is due to commence in the middle of next year, with completion scheduled for 2024.

ACCIONA will manage the traffic and construct temporary detours to maintain traffic flow between the two towns until the new road is built and opened for traffic.

The company is already working in Norway to build the Follo Line railway tunnels as part of a project valued at €1bn.

ACCIONA is constructing twin 18.5km-long tunnels, which are said to be the longest in Norway, with Italian company Ghella to connect the cities of Oslo and Ski.

The two tunnels are being dug with four tunnel boring machines (TBM) that will be operating at the same time.

ACCIONA sees better opportunities in Norway’s transportation construction industry, as the Norwegian Government’s €97bn Transport Plan offers scope for road, railway and coastal infrastructure.