On the morning of 2 October, 2010, as the wind picked up and clouds brushed the top the mountains in Trollaskagi area of North Iceland, a small group of crosscountry skiers came down the main road in Olafsfjordur on their pre-winter, roadrunning roller blades and kept going, into the tunnel that was to be officially opened that afternoon.
They were followed by a spread of long distance runners in a new race, then some cyclists, and locals out to walk and, of course, some cars.
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The snows would be here before long and the tunnels linking through to Siglufjordur, which had been eagerly awaited for a long time, and were greatly supported by both communities and many more people, just had to be explored on this exceptional, landmark day.
Hedinfjordur Tunnel was to be officially opened.
Those who came from far and wide that day from other parts of the north region and the country and also from overseas, would see another sight as they made their way through either of the two tunnels that constitute the Hedinfjordur project – Olafsfjordur Tunnel and Siglufjordur Tunnel. There was a scarf, a wandering line of woollen multi-coloured links sewn into a chain more than 11km long, which had been patiently made by hundreds of hands over many months, in Iceland and beyond, and laid along the side of the road and tunnels.
The two small and vibrant communities of Siglufjordur and Olafsfjordur had been joined.
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By GlobalDataOpening Celebration
When the afternoon came round the clouds were parting and some sunshine found hundreds of people gathered in the normally still, uninhabited and peaceful valley between the tunnels. They had come by special buses and cars and included the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, and the Transport Minister, Ogmundur Jonasson, and Finance Minister, Steingrimur J. Sigfusson – for the official opening.
The representatives of the Icelandic Road Administration (Vegagerdin) were led by director general, Hreinn Haraldsson, and the regional director Birgir Gudmundsson, client representative Jon Magnusson, and former directors Jon Rognvaldsson and Helgi Hallgrimsson. Also important to the gathering was Kristjan Moller, the former Transport Minister and a vital political supporter of the project.
A local choir sang to the gathering, including one number sung in Icelandic but to a traditional Czech folk tune, internationally enjoyed and which was not lost on the Metrostav tunnellers who had joined the enlarged community and representatives of the joint venture partner, Hafell, that day. A group of performers of Reykjavik played out their interpretation of the mountain barriers being overcome and new friendships being won.
A religious blessing, then some official words and, finally, the ribbon in the national colours of blue, red and white was cut.
Community
Everyone was invited to the party, held in Olafsfjordur, which was only fair as Siglufjordur had been the venue of the contract signing in May 2006 and hosted a fete to celebrate work about to begin. Then, for the occasion, there had been baked a tunnel-like, 11m long stretch of confectionery – a cake – each metre representing a kilometre of tunnel. Following the official opening there was, in Olafsfjordur, cake again.
At the official party, held in the spacious community sports hall next to the town’s open air hot baths, the contractors also commemorated the occasion with a few words. Hafell’s general manager, Johann Gunnar Stefansson, spoke, as did Vaclav Soukup, a divisional director of Metrostav. Both were joined at the event by many engineers and managers from both firms, including Metrostav’s project manager for Hedinsfjordur, Ermin Stehlik, Hafell’s project manager Valgeir Bergmann, and some tunnel foremen and site staff. Also there were the client’s supervision engineers from GeoTek, Bjorn A. Hardarson and Oddur Sigurdsson.
“In the last four years,” Soukup said, “Metrostav Prague and its people participated in the Hedinsfjardargong project in the north of Iceland. More than 90 people from the Czech Republic have been regularly flown to Iceland to work on this project. On many occasions, they had to fight with hard conditions in the tunnels and there were moments when they doubted the possibility to finish the project, especially during the time when the large volume of cold water under high pressure leaked into the tunnel.”
He continued: “Today the tunnels are open for public traffic and all difficulties are forgotten. I would like to thank all our partners, representatives of the client and supervisors, our suppliers and, of course, our joint venture partner Hafell for cooperation on this project.”
“Special thanks belong to our people working on the project and to the inhabitants of Siglufjordur and Olafsfjordur for their friendly relationship with our people.”
The network of friendships, contact and community is growing with the ease of allyear travel now possible for the communities, which transformed their municipal arrangements to establish a greater group – Fjallabyggd – as well as the extra visitors and more tourists already coming to the beautiful region.
Long and at times dangerous road trips round the coast and over mountain passes will no longer be journeys of necessity, but choice, in spring to autumn. Come winter, life and contacts will now continue thanks to the tunnels. In the north, life has changed.
A bracing, overcast morning before the official opening to explore the new tunnel Entertainment at the ceremony included a local choir… … and interpretative theatre Vegagerdin’s director general Hreinn Haraldsson (left) and Metrostav’s divisional director Vaclav Soukup (right) with the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson Tyra – man’s best friend, in this case the friend of Metrostav’s project manager, Ermin Stehlik
