Verktækni - 2019, Síða 69

69

Hvalfjordur
sub-sea tunnel
1998 In 1998, a tunnel under Hvalfjord was commissioned. This was
the first and only sub marine tunnel in Iceland. The project that
was privately financed was considered to be a great success,
having been delivered on budget and well ahead of schedule.
Perlan
(the Pearl)
1991 Perlan is a prominent landmark in Reykjavík and situated on the
top of Öskjuhlíð hill. What was originally a cluster of six hot water
tanks was in 1991 converted to a public venue and a restaurant.
Installation of a
digital cellular
telecommunica
tion systems
1994-
2000
The system enables the use if GSM applications.

The years 2001-2017 have been characterized by great fluctuations in the Icelandic economy and a
major financial collapse in 2008, followed by steady growth, with tremendous expansion of the tourist
industry.

Table 3. Examples of important projects in Iceland in the period 2001-2019
Project /
Programme
Year of
delivery
Brief description
Karahnjukar
Hydro Power
Plant
2007-
2009
Kárahnjúkavirkjun, officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station, is
designed to produce 4,600 gigawatt-hours (17,000 TJ) annually
for Alcoa's Fjarðaál aluminum smelter located 75 km away to the
east in Reyðarfjörður. With the installed capacity of 690
megawatts (930,000 hp), the plant is the largest power plant in
Iceland. The project involved damming the rivers Jökulsá á Dal
and Jökulsá í Fljótsdal with five dams, creating three reservoirs.
Water from the reservoirs is diverted through 73 km (45 mi) of
underground water tunnels and down a 420-metre (1,380 ft)
vertical penstock towards a single underground power station.
The smelter became fully operational in 2008 and the hydropower
project was completed in 2009.

The
Kárahnjúkar
Dam
Kárahnjúkastífla enables five dams and is the largest of its type in
Europe, standing 193 metres (633 ft) tall with a length of 730
metres (2,400 ft) and comprising 8.5 million cubic metres
(300×106 cu ft) of material. The project was been heavily criticised
for its environmental impact and its use of foreign workers.
Alcan
Aluminium
Smelter in
Reydarfjordur
2007 The Alcan aluminium smelter in Reyðarfjordur is the largest of
three aluminium smelters in Iceland. Following an international
tender process the Bechtel Corporation and Mannvit’s subsidiary
HRV Engineering as Bechtel‐HRV were chosen to design and
build a 346,000 tpy aluminium smelter in Reydarfjordur, Iceland
on an EPC basis.

Harpa music
and conference
center
2009 In 2009, the Harpa music and conference center in the center of
Reykjavik was commissioned. It was planned and designed
before the financial collapse of 2008. After the collapse it was
decided not to stop but to finish the house. Harpa won the Mies
van der Rohe Award for Best Arcitecture in 2013.
CarbFix 2007 CarbFix is a research project led by Reykjavik Energy, that aims
at developing methods and technology for permanent CO2
mineral storage in basalts. It was founded in 2007 by Reykjavík