Seabrokers becomes the representative for Robbins TBM

– Over the past year, we have had close and good cooperation with Robbins, and I am very happy that we have now agreed to follow suit going forward, says Ketil Solvik-Olsen, general manager of Seabrokers Fundamentering.

Solvik-Olsen says this will be an exciting chapter in the development of Seabrokers.

– We strongly believe that tunnel boring machines will be an important tool in the future for building better and cheaper infrastructure and energy production. There is a lot of good expertise in tunnel construction in Norway, and different types of machines have different advantages. Through our involvement, we want to contribute to highlighting the advantages that TBM can have in many projects and the expertise that Robbins possesses.

Robbins has many decades of experience with hydropower projects in Norway, and has developed machines that are well adapted to Norwegian rock types.

– We have great faith that more energy companies and infrastructure managers will see the advantage of using TBM as a tool on bigger projects. And not least, Robbins’ long experience in the industry and in Norway will be a good bonus for Norwegian entrepreneurs. After all, we are talking about a player who makes machines with bore diameters ranging from 50 cm to 15 metres. It is versatile.

At the same time, Solvik-Olsen sees an upside in that Seabroker’s Fundamentering can offer a number of solutions that naturally follow when tunnels are to be established.

– Seabrokers Fundamentering is a Norwegian-owned, nationwide company, and we supply everything within foundation works. In the last year, we have set up a specialist company in injection, horizontal drilling, jet piling, secant piles and rock protection. In the autumn, we began extended KC piling to stabilize areas with quicksand. And this spring we strengthened our investment in energy wells by separating it into a separate company. We have a number of machines on order.

Now the company is taking the step into the world of tunnels.

– In Seabrokers Fundamentering, we are keenly interested in creating solid ground for the future. It may sound paradoxical since our early beginnings were all about doing ship brokerage. The foundation business started almost 20 years ago when we saw a need to cover our own need for foundations for buildings that were then erected by Seabrokers Group, and have today become Norway’s largest privately owned foundation company. This year Seabrokers Group celebrates 40 years, and we have our eyes on the future, says Ragnvald Albretsen, founder and chairman of Seabrokers Fundamentering.

Robbins is one of the world’s most recognized developers and manufacturers of tunnel boring machines. With around 70 years of experience and over 1,000 completed tunnel projects, they have developed enormous experience in the development of transport, energy, mining and community infrastructure.

– We have developed our collaboration with Robbins over a long period of time, and have experienced them as highly professional. They listen to the customers’ wishes and needs, they can contribute with a lot of experience and they are concerned with cost-effective solutions adapted to the individual project. After several meetings and visits to both the USA and Norway, we found out that we should continue the journey together. We are therefore very happy that we have now entered into an agreement to be Robbins’ representative in the Nordic market, concludes Solvik-Olsen.