Underwater car park under construction in Oslo

The car park is being built by Skanska, and is the first of its kind in Norway.

The customer is Tjuvholmen Utvikling AS, a development company that is jointly owned by the Selvaag and Aspelin Ramm Groups.

The parking garage will also form part of the foundation of a new housing complex, and is being built to accommodate up to 650 cars.

The concrete casting of the garage has been made at a dry dock in Fredrikstad, and the four sections weighing altogether 40,000 tons have now been towed to Oslo and will be lowered into place at the waterfront in central Oslo.

The process is in principle the same as that used in the construction of off-shore oil platforms, with which Skanska has extensive experience.

The new land area created at Tjuvholmen will be 21,000 square metres, part of which will be the roof of the multistorey garage. Tjuvholmen is part of the City of Oslo's initiative to create housing in close proximity to the Oslo Fjord.

In Fredrikstad, 200 persons have been engaged in the concrete casting. The garage is scheduled to be completed by December 2009, and the whole housing project to be finished in 2013.