The progress numbers this week are significantly lower than usual mainly due to the Christmas holidays. The three TBMs were operational until Christmas and work continued in the Hálslón power intake as well.

The Ufsárlón pond tunnel had, at the end of last week, reached 70 metres and one better. The employees of the Icelandic contractor Arnarfell ran into considerable troubles during the recent cold weather spell, with temperatures going as low as 18 degrees below.

All excavation and reinforcement work has finished in the tunnels and caverns at Fljótsdalur valley marking a certain change in the evolution of the project as construction using concrete and steel has now begun at all sites in Valþjófstaðarfjall mountain.

Last week saw an increase in the length of drilled tunnels of nearly 620 metres. This can be considered quite good progress and to top off a good week a record was set.

There is a strange feeling one gets, standing on a train platform deep inside a mountain, waiting for the train to arrive. Perhaps even stranger is the fact that the three trains operating in the tunnels at the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project site are the only trains in the country.

At the end of last week, the three giant Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) had finished drilling 9.2 kilometres of tunnels, a number adding up to about 19% of the length of TBM tunnels scheduled for the whole project. Eventually, the TBMs will have created 48, 3 kilometres of tunnels, but the total length of tunnels for the project will add up to 60 kilometres.

The drilling machine seen in the picture here on the right, is drilling holes for explosives into a cliff extruding into Hafrahvammagil canyon where work continues filling the main dam. The cliff has to be removed in order for the fill to better fit the canyon wall.

Impregilo employees started last week concreting work on the inside of the toe wall at the main dam site. This marks the first instance the RCC method is implemented in Iceland. RCC (Roller Compacted Concrete) originates from the USA and is regularly used in dam building around the world. RCC is, in essence, gravel mixed with cement which can be laid out by road construction machines and compressed using rollers.

The cold spell in November has affected operations in all areas of the Kárahnjúkar project. Sub-zero temperatures and concrete work do not mix very well and this has slowed down the concrete work.

Workers from Arnarfell, an Icelandic contractor based in Akureyri, are expected to begin work constructing the Ufsarveita diversion tunnel and linking it to the headrace tunnel running from Hálslón reservoir.

Alcoa has announced it will invest approximately $284 million of the $314 million to build a new anode plant that will be built in Mosjoen, Norway. The facility, which will be built together with Elkem ASA, will produce anodes for Alcoa's Fjardaal smelter in Iceland and the Mosjoen smelter in Norway, which is 50% held by Alcoa and Elkem.

Slippstöðin ehf, a metalworking company and shipyard located in Akureyri has concluded an agreement with the german company DSB Stahlbau GmbH to install the steel lining for the penstocks inside the Valþjófsstaðarfjall mountain in Fljótsdal valley.

The notion that there’s seldom a dull moment at the Kárahnjúkar construction site was reinforced this morning by these dramatic photographs taken at 7a.m. by Thorgrímur St. Árnason of Landsvirkjun supervisory agency VIJV, which together constitute what are almost certainly the first images of an eruption in the Grímsvötn caldera which began around 10 p.m. last night.

A wave of storms which struck southern and eastern Iceland last week set their mark on work at the Kárahnjúkar site, as did a series of technical problems. With operations suspended from Monday to Thursday, only 18,500 m3 of fill was added to the main dam over the seven days.

Like much of the rest of Iceland, workers at the main Kárahnjúkar dam site received a sharp reminder at the beginning of the week as to their precise geographical location, as storm-force winds ravaged the east and south of the country in the early hours of Monday morning.

Unfavourable rock conditions slowed the progress of two of the TBM drilling machines at the Kárahnjúkar site last week, although for rather different reasons. While the seam encountered by TBM 1 proved too soft, that faced by TBM 2 was too hard, leading to several breakages of its massive drill bits.

Following the technical problems of the past few weeks, all three Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) involved in the Kárahnjúkar project are now fully operational, and have broken through the three Adit tunnels to begin work on drilling the main headrace tunnel that will carry water from the Hálslón reservoir to drive the six Francis turbines in the powerhouse cavern.

The arrival of autumn also marked the beginning of a new school year at the Kárahnjúkar School, where a total of 17 pupils are currently enrolled, an increase of seven from last year. At the same time, a playschool has also been added to the facility, where 10 children aged between two and five years are now taking their first tentative steps on the educational ladder.

As of September 2004, a total of 1,401 workers were involved in the construction of the Kárahnjúkar power plant, well over double the number of those employed on the site at the same time last year. Some 440 of the current workforce are Icelandic, with the rest drawn from nations as far apart as Canada and China.

No matter what angle it is viewed from, everything about the Kárahnjúkar project is big, and its impact on the Icelandic economy in general – and local suppliers in particular – is no certainly no exception.

Three employees of Italian contractor Impregilo were slightly injured last night, when a train ferrying workers to the TBM 1 tunnelling machine ran into another loaded with cement in Adit 3 in the Valþjófsstaðarfjall mountain.

The third and last of the giant TBM tunnelling machines which will be used in the Kárahnjúkar project entered service last week at Adit 1.

Another watershed in the Kárahnjúkar power plant project was reached yesterday, when the first vehicle crossed the main dam, from one side of the Hafrahvammaglúfur canyon to the other.

The summer season may now be drawing to a close, but September so far has seen almost 40 groups of visitors tour the Kárahnjúkar power plant project site.

Last week saw the main Kárahnjukar dam reach a height of 70 metres, bringing the structure level with the edge of the Hafrahvammagljúfur canyon.

Another watershed in the Kárahnjúkar project was reached at 11 a.m. yesterday morning, as a drill-head broke to the surface in the tailrace tunnel in the heart of the Valþjófsstaðarfjall, so marking the completion of the second of the two vertical penstocks that will carry water from the Jökla river to turn the six Francis turbines which will generate between them 690 MW of power to feed the Alcoa aluminium smelter at Reyðarfjörður.

With the onset of winter now imminent, employees at Icelandic contractor Arnarfell working on the construction of the Ufsarveita diversion tunnel are currently involved in a race against the clock to break to the surface before weather conditions mark the end of operations for the time being.

A technical problem saw operations virtually grind to a halt last week at Adit 2, where a fault in a conveyor belt restricted TBM 2 to drilling less than 16 metres of rock, less than one-tenth of last week’s figure.

Icelandic contractor Suðurverk continues to make good progress on the construction of the two Kárahnjúkar saddle dams, with both projects remaining well on schedule.

The two diversion tunnels designed to carry the waters of the Jökla river around the main dam site during construction operations on the Kárahnjúkar project have proved to have a combined capacity 10%-15% less than had first been thought.

The 1,195 metres bored by the Robbins tunnelling machine TBM 3 at the Kárahnjukar site in August may not only be great result for the drill and its crew, but also a new world record for operations of this type. Enquiries are being currently being made around the globe, and the results will be announced in the near future.

The tunnelling machine TBM3 continued to make excellent progress last week, cutting its way through 300 metres of rock in the headrace tunnel from Adit 3 towards what will be the site of the Hálslón reservoir. 

Overshadowed by the conical slopes of the mountain Fremri-Kárahnjúkar, blasting work at the Desjarárstífla saddle dam is captured through the lens of Kárahnjúkar project information representative Hrönn Hjálmarsdóttir.

Icelandic contractor Ístak will begin work later this week on the laying of access tracks for the construction of the Fljótsdalslínur 3 & 4 transmission lines which will be used to carry power generated by the Kárahnjúkar hydropower plant 50 km to the Alcoa aluminium smelter in the port of Reyðarfjörður. An operating licence for the project has already been granted by one of the three local authorities involved, with decisions expected from the other two early next month.

Last week saw the shattering of yet another Kárahnjúkar project drilling record, with the tunnelling machines TBM2 and TBM 3 chewing their way through a massive 557.5 metres of rock between them. The record may not stand for long, however, as the pair are expected to be joined soon by the third and final machine, TBM 1, which is due to enter service at Adit 1 at the beginning of September.

Blasting and rock clearing operations have no been completed on the second-top layer of the roof of the powerhouse cavern inside the Valþjófsstaðarfjall mountain, bringing the height of the structure to 17 metres, about half of its projected height.

Repairs have now been completed to the bridge over the Jökla river at the main Kárahnjúkar dam site following last week’s floods, and the structure has been re-opened to the public.

The evening of August 2 marked another milestone in the Kárahnjúkar project, with the completion of Adit 3 by the tunnelling machine TBM3, which has now switched its attentions to the drilling the first stage of the 5,478 metre-long headrace tunnel. Operations also proceeded well during the week at Adit 2, where the tillite (glacial) rock strata offered little resistance to the cutting power of TBM2.

The flow of water flow in the Jökla river decreased significantly last night, giving rise to a belief that the floods which have persisted since last week have now reached their peak, and will begin to subside over the next few days.

In the wake of last week’s record-breaking floods, the Kárahnjúkar coffer dam has been raised to a height of 496 metres above sea level. The modification takes the structure level with the edge of the Hafravammagljúfur canyon, 17 metres higher than had been originally intended. However, with a further rise in the waters of the Jökla river a possibility later this week, workers at the site remain in a state of high alert.

Following damage to the structure’s handrail and flooring caused by rising floodwaters last night, it has been decided to close the bridge over the Jökla river at the main Kárahnjúkar site until further notice.

The second of the three giant tunnelling machines which will be used in the Kárahnjúkar project has now entered service at Adit 2. Drilling operations began on July 26, and continue round the clock using crews working two shifts.

Operated by first-class chef and power project construction veteran Thórólfur Sigjónsson, the facility serving workers in the Fljótsdalur valley is one of Iceland’s best-kept culinary secrets.

Good news and slightly dryer conditions for workers at the Hálslón power intake, where the rate of leakage has dropped for the first time in several weeks. With the tunnel now 360 metres long, the flow of water into it has fallen over the past few days from 215 litres/sec, to 180 litres/sec. As was reported last week, the intake is the only tunnel in the entire Kárahnjúkar project currently experiencing such problems.

While leakage has not proved a problem in most of the 13 km of tunnels built so far on the Kárahnjúkar project, the one exception to the rule is the Hálslón power intake, where 200 litres/sec of water are currently pouring into the 300 metres of tunnel completed to date, and rushing out of the hillside into the Hafrahvammagljúfur canyon where it has formed a good-sized pool just upstream of the coffer dam.

Last weekend saw the Transmission Division of the National Power Company, Landsvirkjun, formally open the bidding for tenders on the contracts for the two sets of high-voltage cables which will be used to carry electricity generated by the Kárahnjúkar hydropower plant 50 km to the Alcoa aluminium smelter in the port of Reyðarfjörður.

Less than 12 months into operations, contractors Impregilo and Fosskraft have now completed 13 km of the 75 km of tunnels which will be constructed during the four-year Karahnjúkar hydropower project. To date, 8 km have been blasted and bored by the former, and 5 km by the latter.

Dwarfed by their surroundings, employees of main contractor Impregilo are currently engaged in the construction of the toe wall of the main Karanhnjúkar dam on the floor of the Hafravammagljúfur canyon.

Following the resumption of operations last week, good progress continues to be made on the Fljótsdalur valley tailrace tunnel, with just under 300 metres of its 1,100 metre length remaining and drilling being conducted from both ends deep inside the mountain.

Last weekend saw the National Power Company’s (Landsvirkjun) Végarður Visitor Centre become the latest record breaker in the Kárahnjúkar project, with no less than 500 guests dropping in to experience the project at first hand, more than five times the daily average.

Akureyri-based contractor Arnarfell has fought off stiff competition from three engineering consortia to win a contract from the National Power Company (Landsvirkjun) for the construction of the Ufsarveita diversion (KAR-21) phase of the Kárahnjúkar hydroelectric power plant scheme for a price of just over ISK1.9 billion.

The month of June saw excellent progress on all fronts at the Kárahnjúkar project site, with the giant tunnelling machine TBR 3 carving its way through a total of 936 metres of rock face in Adit 3, an excellent performance by any standards.