Nexans delivered exactly what it had promised

When the cable dimensions for the large-scale E6 road project were decided on at the last minute, and it was urgent for Nexans to buckle down.

On the E6 between Vindåsliene and Korporalsbrua in Midtre-Gauldal Municipality in Trøndelag, a new 6.5-km two/three-carriageway road is currently being built, including a 3.6-km tunnel. The electrical works are being done by E6 elektro, which is a working partnership involving five independent companies, three of which are local electrical companies.

E6 electro started over a glass of beer
“It all started with a good idea over a glass of beer with people from Kraftlaget Rise Elektro and Sokna Elektro,” smiles Terje Øyan, Day-to-Day Manager, Gaula Elektro. “We thought that it would be a shame if big electrical contractors came in from outside the area to take this job. But none of us was big enough to take it on ourselves, so our only option was to join forces and work together. 

Problems with the cable supplies...
They did this by teaming up with two other partners, Elpro Installasjon and Guard Automasjon, and together they managed to land this big contract. Early last autumn, E6 Elektro got to work, and in November they got going on installation works in the tunnel. 

“Everything must be done by the autumn, so we’ve been biting at the heels of the contractor every step of the way,” Øyan explains.

“Most of it has gone relatively smoothly. Our biggest challenges were actually the supply of cables, since modifications and changes to workflows and design engineering led to constantly changing cable cross
sections and types as well.

This meant that Øyan and his partners could not order the cables and get them in stock at the wholesaler in advance, as originally planned. And since the cables they needed were rarely standard, neither the wholesaler nor the manufacturer had such large quantities in stock.

... but then Nexans entered the picture
“We would’ve had to wait in a manufacturing queue for two or three months to get the cables we needed,” Øyan says. But then Nexans got involved. Fortunately for us, they manufacture cables in both Norway and Sweden. So Nexans reacted promptly and manufactured the cables we needed. They had quite a lot of them in stock in Norway and Sweden already.

“Did Nexan supply the cables as planned? 
“Yes, they did an excellent job, considering the volume of cables we needed,” Øyan replies. “A lot of cabling is used in the project. We’ve used thousands of meters of PFSP copper cable with cross-sections of 3x16 and 3x25 mm2. We probably used 30,000 meters of functionally resistant and fire-resistant BFSI cable in 2x2.5 mm²­, plus some 4x10 and 2x6 mm².    

Nexans delivered better than anyone
“This meant that Nexans was our main cable supplier for the project,” Øyan says. They deliver what they promise. Nexans was actually one of our best suppliers in the whole project.

“The E6 electro folks are a nice bunch to do business with,” Langås says. “They’re innovative and want the conditions at the construction site to be as well-organized as possible. So they gave us a few more challenges than usual.

“Yes, I’ve heard that some of the cable reels were marked to ensure they were dropped off at the right place?”
“That’s right,” he replies. E6 electro asked us to mark some of the reels so that they would be unloaded at the correct spot in the tunnel. This made it easier for the fitters to see where the cables were to be used.

“Nexans did an excellent job of doing this, which was a big help to us,” Øyan says.

“In this respect, I would also like to mention our close, rewarding dialogue with Elektroskandia Trondheim,” Langås adds.  Their in-house sales rep Stein Rønning did a fantastic job handling the logistics and the orders. 

“Will the five of you join forces as E6 electro on other projects as well?”

“Time will tell. First, we’ll have to evaluate this project. We intended to use the project as a dress rehearsal of sorts and decide what to do next afterwards. But a new road has to be built both to the south and north of us, and it would have been nice to have gotten a slice of that pie, too,” Terje Øyan says thoughtfully.