Hvalba tunnel project put out to tender

Contractors will soon be able apply for a pre-approval to bid on the construction of the tunnel between Hvalba and Trongisvágur in Suðuroy.

Transport minister Henrik Old has been maintaining that he wanted the Fámjin tunnel project to be put out to tender in conjunction with the Hvalba tunnel project.

A 2017 proposal to combine the two projects caused heated disputes in the government as the Suðuroy-based MPs were accused of collusion in favour of the joint project. The proposal was scrapped at the end of the Parliamentary sitting that year and was never resubmitted.

In its project description, Landsverk (the Road and Tunnel Authority) writes that a new 2,540-metre tunnel will be made between Gjánhamar in Trongisvágur to Niðastabotnur in Hvalba.

The project will be put out to tender later this year, and work is expected to start in 2019. Landsverk estimates that the project will be completed in 2022.

Only limited companies registered in the Faroes are entitled to submit bids.

Translated by prosa.fo