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OVRE ARDAL, NORWAY

Replacing Norway’s Tyin

Hydropower Plant
Environmentally
Sensitive Construction
Norwegian contractor Selmer Skanska
has completed its part of the con-
struction of the replacement for the
1940s hydropower station serving
the Årdal aluminium smelter, located
near Sogndal in western Norway.
Overall cost of the project will be
approximately €180 million, with the
Selmer Skanska contract accounting
for €60 million. The new power station
has been excavated in rock, together
with nearly 21 km of associated tun-
nels of various cross sections.
The client, Norsk Hydro, is com-
mitted to preservation, and this is
reflected both inside and outside the
mountain, and includes health, envi-
ronment and safety. This was empha-
sised when they awarded the
contract, along with an insistence
that their current daily production of
electricity should not be disrupted.
Three generations of Atlas Copco
drillrigs were used at Tyin, ranging
from the older Boomer H 185 and
322, through Rocket Boomer 353 C,
to the latest L2 C and fully computer-
ized WL3 C, equipped with the new
COP 1838HF rockdrills. Secoroc sup-
plied its Magnum SR 35 rock tools for
the drillrigs, and Atlas Copco refur-
bished a Robbins 97RL C raise borer
for the surge shaft excavation. There
is even an Atlas Copco Wagner
ST1000 Scooptram at site!
Tyin is a testament to the ability of
a single company to supply and sup-
port all the equipment necessary for to the existing power tunnel, which will Rocket Boomer WL3 C equipped with
a major tunnelling project, while then work as a top feed to the new tunnel, 1838 HF rockdrills at tailrace tunnel
complying with the environmental connected by a shaft located approximately face.
strictures placed on working in sensi-
tive areas of the world.
halfway along its alignment. Selmer
Skanska subsidiary E-Service has drilled
the 1 m-diameter x 25-50 m-long holes to
Tunnel System connect the creeks to the existing headrace.
An access tunnel 1.54 km-long with
The tunnel system runs from a laketap 50 sq m cross section was driven down-
intake in Lake Tyin to the existing storage grade at 1:10 to reach the power station
lake at Torolmen, and then on to the power- site in June, 2002. The rock cover of
station penstocks and turbines, finally dis- 1.5 km is resulting in heavy pressure on
charging through a tailrace at Årdalsvatnet. tunnel face and crown.
Five surface creek intakes have also It involved some 75,000 cu m of exca-
been constructed. These are being coupled vation using an Atlas Copco Rocket

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First worksite for the upgraded

Robbins 97 RL C raiseborer
Tyin
Torholmen
1073-1083 m.o.h.
Tya

Existing tunnel

Shaft

New tunnel

New powerhouse

Lake Årdal
3 m above sea level

Idealized section of Tyin tunnel Boomer 353 C equipped with 5.5 m-long
system. Secoroc Magnum SR35 rods to drill the
hard gneiss. Some 75-80 x 48 mm holes
were drilled per round, using Secoroc
Magnum SR35 button bits, to obtain a
4.85 m pull. Dyno Nobel slurry explosive
and Nonel detonation provided good frag-
mentation, and spoil removal was under-
taken by a subcontractor.
Power Station
The power station excavation was com-
pleted in October, 2003, with dimensions
17 m-wide x 60 m-long x 38 m-high,
beneath 1.6 km of rock cover. It is
Atlas Copco ROC 642 HP used for bulk excavation of
power station cavern.
designed to replace output from the
existing plant and to add an extra 15%,
bringing electricity production to 1,400
GWh annually, without changing the water
reservoirs.
The power station roof was profile
drilled using a Rocket Boomer 353 C and
supported by 6 m-long resin anchored
rockbolts installed on a 2 m square pattern
in holes drilled by an Atlas Copco Boomer
H185 drillrig. Some 7-10 cm of steel fibre
reinforced shotcrete was applied, using a
truck-mounted jumbo.
An Atlas Copco ROC 642 HP quarry
rig drilled 4 m-long x 64 mm-diameter ver-
tical blastholes with 2.5 m burden on the
benches for bulk excavation of the power-
house, where the generator pit will house
two Pelton turbines. These will be driven
by the hydrodynamic forces created by
over 1,000 m of head between Lake Tyin
and the powerhouse. Massive crane rails
have been installed to cope with the turbine
components and the 240 t transformers.
Some 7,000 cu m of concrete founda-
tions had been poured for the new power
station by January, 2004, and electrical and
mechanical installation commenced.

Tailrace
The tailrace tunnel is 2.7 km-long, and
9.5 m-high x 5.5 m-wide, with 46 sq m
section. This was driven by a new Atlas
Copco Rocket Boomer WL3 C drillrig
with three booms and a basket, delivered
in February, 2002. The WL3 C is equipped
with the latest 1838 HF rockdrills, which
drilled at 1.5 m/min in the granite gneiss. It

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drilled 90 holes/round using 5.5 m-long

rods and 48 mm button bits with Secoroc
Magnum SR35 thread, with blasting by
Dyno Nobel slurry with Nonel detonators.
The rock cover of 1.5 km resulted in
heavy pressure on the mountain side of the
drive, causing blocky ground which had to
be secured using 4 m-long resin anchored
bolts. Some 12-15 bolts were installed per
round, in alternating rings of 6 and 7 at
2.5 m spacing. Where the rock tension per-
mitted, 2.4 m-long bolts were used. Steel
fibre reinforced shotcrete was applied as a
matter of course.
Turning niches were excavated at 130 m
intervals for the wheeled loaders, which
discharged into road tippers. Rock from the
tailrace tunnel was carried by bottom dump
barges to an area of the fjord that has been
reclaimed as a nature reserve. The access
and tailrace tunnel entrances are 3 km apart
along a tarmac all-weather public highway.
Large 1.8 m-diameter fans and 2 m At the controls of the Rocket Boomer WL3 C.
ducts provided 35 cu m/min of fresh air to
the faces. required more blastholes in the phyllite,
together with up to six 102 mm cut holes.
Headrace The final stretch of tunnel, from Lake
Torolmen to the draw off point in
The pressure tunnel was advanced at Lake Tyin, was driven from an adit using
27 sq m section on a 0.5% gradient from the an excavator loader and dumptrucks. The
power station position towards Lake Tyin. first 226 m was downgrade, followed by
Meantime, development of the 350 m- 2.4 km slightly upgrade at 20 sq m section.
long Biskopsvatn adit was commenced in The face was drilled using an Atlas Copco
October, 2001, at a point approximately Rocket Boomer L2 C, using ANFO as the
halfway along the 7 km alignment between blasting agent.
the power station and the storage lake
known as Torolmen. Biskopsvatn adit Surge Shaft
reached the pressure tunnel horizon by
Christmas, 2001. At a position known as Tora Bora because
From here, the pressure tunnel was of its remoteness, the 9,000 cu m surge One of the Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer
advanced in both directions using two chamber was excavated early in the project 353 C drillrigs.
identical Atlas Copco 353 S drillrigs and
tracked loaders with 2.1 cu m side tipping
buckets at each face, operated by single
crews on each of two shifts. A maximum
35 rounds/week was achieved, with an
average of 26 rounds, which equated to
65 m advance.
Both rigs used Secoroc Magnum SR35
equipment, 5.5 m-long rods and 48 mm
button bits, in the 29-30 sq m section, and
each round took around 2 hours to drill.
A workshop was established under-
ground at the junction of the Biskopsvatn
adit and the pressure tunnel drives.
Towards the right downgrade side, the
drive was in granite, and towards the left
upgrade side, it was in phyllite. Each round

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Robbins 97RL C set up and drilling at
Tora Bora.
using an Atlas Copco 322 twin-boom drill-
rig and ANFO. Poor access limited the size
of equipment that could be used, which
included a Wagner ST1000 Scooptram.
The 436 m-long x 4.04 m-diameter
surge shaft was raise bored from the surge
chamber by Skanska Raise Boring AB
using its Robbins 97RL C. This is a high
power and low profile raise drill specially
designed for working on sites with size and
weight restrictions, and is one of the
strongest ever produced for up to 600 m-
long raises in the diameter range of
2.4 m-5.0 m. The conversion of the 13
year-old machine to computer control was
undertaken by the Raise Boring depart-
ment at Atlas Copco in Orebro, Sweden,
who upgraded the entire system using RCS
technology, and added a new power pack
and electrical cabinet. The upgrade made
the control system more reliable and easier
to use, and the raise drill easier to assemble
at site, because of the reduction in cabling.
Technical data can be logged and down-
loaded onto a PC card, and the whole
system is programmable, making it easier
to add new features. Indeed, a catch-rope
feature was added and programmed into
the machine after it had been delivered and
set up. With this feature installed, if the
reamer loosens, it is restrained by a wire
rope inside the drillstring, and a red light
appears on the panel.
Due to weight restrictions and size
limits of the access road along the moun-
tainside, the machine had to be dismantled
and hauled in by tractor. It took Skanska
nine trips to get the raise drill into place,
and an additional 30-40 helicopter trips for
transportation of drill rods and accessories.
Site preparation and assembly took around
three weeks.
During winter, it was impossible to keep
the road open due to snowstorms, and the
raise drilling crew had to rely on helicopter
or snowmobiles for transportation. To
avoid a cumbersome commuting situation,
night-quarters were fitted in the warm
and snow free tunnel, close to the working
site.
Drilling of the 15 in pilot hole started in
December, 2002 and took three months to
complete. A drift from the power tunnel
reached the lower level of the pilot hole by
March, 2003, and reaming of the 4.04 m-
diameter shaft commenced the following
month and was completed by the end of
June, 2003.
Summary
The Tyin project began in September, 2001
and is scheduled for completion in
October, 2004. A total of 4,500 rounds has
been blasted to remove 680,000 cu m
of rock. Some 27,086 rockbolts and
15,100 cu m shotcrete were installed.
Selmer Skanska and its subcontractors
had a total of 160 employees on site, of
which 50 lived at the intermediate adit
location, with the remainder at a camp in
Årdal, next to the site area. Everybody
worked the North Sea system of two weeks
on and one week off.
Excavation was completed during 2003,
with the final blast in the tailrace taking
place in the last week in May, and the
headrace from Biskopsvatn to the power-
station breaking through on 10th July. The
draw-off tunnel at Torolmen was finished
at the end of July, with the lake tap left
ready drilled for blasting, scheduled to take
place in mid-2004. The piercing of
Ardalsvatn from the tailrace will be carried
out in Spring, 2004.
Selmer Skanska is justifiably proud of
its progress on this project, which involved
drilling and blasting nearly 21 km of
tunnel and excavating 45,000 cu m of
powerstation in just 19 months. This part
of the project was completed without a
single serious accident during the course of
600,000 manhours. ■

Acknowledgements
Atlas Copco is grateful to Magnar
Myklatun, project manager for Selmer
Skanska at Tyin for his assistance with this
article.

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