The work to prepare the tender documentation for the Rv 555 Sotrasambandet PPP project (the Sotra connection) is in the final stages and the tender will be published shortly.

The project envisages the new main land connection between Sotra/Øygarden and Bergen that will ensure efficient transport to urban centres and urban districts, and to main roads, railway, airport and sea transport.

The Sotrasambandet project is the largest individual contract within transport and communications in the history of Norway to be tendered.

As the first step in the tender process, relevant companies will submit their pre-qualification applications by the end of February 2020.

The prequalification process will result in selecting three potential private developers. It is planned to announce the three selected companies before summer of 2020. It will be followed by a dialogue and tender phase in which the selected PPP companies should learn to understand the project, perform the necessary soil borings, and start engineering and planning the project.

In order for applicable contractors to understand the extent and complexity of the project, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) will be organising an information meeting and pre-tender site visit already in January 2020.

The final contract will be signed in the autumn of 2021.

Project Manager Arve Tjønn Rinde said: "The project will be built in an area with heavy traffic, close to homes and residents, which makes the project particularly challenging. For this reason, the NPRA has already started the work of realigning the high-voltage line between Breivik in Bergen and Bildøy at Fjell. Preparations are well underway, so that we will have finished these in good time before the PPP contract is signed. In this way, we are helping to ensure fast access to the area and an efficient startup of the actual project work."