Ramboll implements new seawater intake solution at Norway’s new National Museum

An innovative drilling solution avoided mess and chaos around Norway’s new National Museum. The techniques can be transferred to future projects in both Norway and other countries.

COPENHAGEN, 25-Feb-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — Ramboll has recently finished a complex and challenging project in Norway: The implementation of a new seawater intake solution at Norway’s new National Museum located in the central part of Oslo.

The purpose of the seawater intake is to pump water from the Oslo Bay and use the water for both cooling and heating of the new museum building. Moreover, two storm water pipelines have been installed in order to lead rainwater away from the roof and the site of the museum. The two storm water pipelines function as a flood-risk mitigation system for both the museum and a big part of the surrounding area.

No digging

In order to avoid too much mess and chaos caused by expansive digging in central Oslo, it was decided to implement the seawater intake by drilling. The drilling had to be done underground and below sea level, which was technically challenging because the underground consisted of various soil material, from rocks to clay.

“In order to make the contractors able to work in dry conditions despite being below sea level, we made special “habitats” of steel boxes which we lowered into the sea,” says Vegard Svendsby, civil engineer in Ramboll Water. However, the new solution was a great benefit to the city:

“By drilling instead of digging, we were able to bring four big pipelines to the sea without disturbing the citizens or interrupting the local traffic.”

Drilled through an old landfill site

The site of the new national museum has brought further challenges, as the area is located on an old landfill site.

“The landfill site made it hard for us to predict what we would encounter when drilling. We were in risk of encountering something the drill could not pass. We therefore had to do a pilot drilling, as a way of testing the challenging conditions. The use of no-dig solutions is increasing, and this has definitely been a valuable experience that we or our international colleagues might use on other projects,” says Vegard Svendsby.

All solutions for the drilled holes had to be customized, and these techniques can be transferred to future projects in both Norway and other countries.

Beyond the water services, Ramboll has provided a complete advisory service and handled design coordination in order to ensure a cohesive partnership between all construction and engineering units involved (heating, ventilation and sanitation, electronics, acoustics, geo-technology and fire safety). Furthermore, Ramboll has contributed with comprehensive knowledge within universal design, lighting design, safety, system automation, environmental and traffic management.

Turid P. Ødegaard
Director, Water, Norway
T +47 930 36 535
E turid.odegaard@ramboll.no

Vegard Svendsby
Engineer, Water Norway
M +47 98698687
E vegard.svendsby@ramboll.no

SOURCE: Ramboll Group

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Ramboll implements new seawater intake solution at Norway’s new National Museum