The Norwegian Coastal Administration has cut the number of bidders for the Stad Ship Tunnel from six to four, after two Chinese consortia failed to prequalify.

The teams are competing for a $400m deal to build a 1.7km-long canal-tunnel to let ships avoid rounding the notorious Stadlandset peninsula in the south of the country.

The teams still in the race are:

• A joint venture between Skanska (Sweden) and Vassbakk og Stol (Norway);
• AF Gruppen Norge (Norway);
• Eiffage Civil Engineering (France);
• A joint venture between Acciona Construcción (Spain) and Bertelsen og Garpestad (Norway).

The teams that did not make it through prequalification were both from China: a consortium of PowerChina, Sichuan Road and Bridge, and Sinohydro; and a joint venture between two China Communications subsidiaries.

The administration said the Chinese teams did not meet the requirement that bidders have “sufficient experience of a relevant nature and complexity, including work with injection in very hard rock and the design and execution of water and frost protection”.

The four bidders will attend meetings next week to receive more information about the project, including a site inspection.

The deadline for bids is 1 June. These will be evaluated and negotiated, possibly in multiple rounds.

The administration’s goal is to sign the contract in the autumn, commence construction in 2026, and complete it in 2031.

Cowi was selected as the technical adviser for the project last year.

The tunnel will cut through the mountainous, inland end of the long Stadlandset Peninsula on Norway’s west coast.

It is designed to be 26.5m wide, with 33m headroom, and will be able to accommodate 70 to 120 ships a day.