This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2022)
The Ryfylke Tunnel.

Norway's geography is dominated by fjords and islands. As of 2011, the country has thirty-three undersea tunnels, most of which are fixed links. Tunnels are chosen to replace ferries to allow residents of islands and remote peninsulas access to regional centers, where water-crossings are too long for bridges. The Bømlafjord Tunnel is the country's longest, at 7,888 meters (25,879 ft). Its length is surpassed by that of the 8,999-meter (29,524 ft) Karmøy Tunnel, which opened on September 5, 2013.

The Eiksund Tunnel is the world's deepest, reaching 287 meters (942 ft) below mean sea level. Norway's first subsea tunnel was the Vardø Tunnel, which opened in 1982. Most of the tunnels are built as fixed links, allowing ferry services to be abandoned. In 2010, the first three tunnels in cities, the Bjørvika Tunnel, the Skansen Tunnel and the Knappe Tunnel, were opened, all of which were built as motorways to bypass the city center. Suspended tunnels have been proposed, which could be installed in places too deep for conventional tunnels, such as the Sognefjord.[1][needs update?]

Current

The following lists all subsea tunnels in use as of 2011. It includes the name, length in meters and feet, depth below mean sea level in meters and feet, the year the tunnel was taken into use with ordinary traffic (which may differ from the year it was officially opened), the road the tunnel carries, the county or counties the tunnel is in, and the municipalities, including any the tunnel passes through. Roads starting with E indicates a European route, while FV indicates a county road without signposted road number; only numbers indicates roadside-numbered county roads which are former national roads.[2]

Name Length
(m)		 Length
(ft)		 Depth
(m)		 Depth
(ft)		 Opened Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s)
Ryfylke 14,000 46,000 290 950 2019 13 Ryfylke Fixed Link Ryfylke Rogaland Stavanger, Strand [3]
Karmøy 8,900 29,200 139 456 2013 47 T-Link — Rogaland Karmøy, Tysvær
Bømlafjord 7,888 25,879 263 863 2000 E39 Triangle Link Bømlo, Stord Hordaland Stord, Sveio [2]
Eiksund 7,765 25,476 287 942 2008 653 Eiksund Fixed Link Hareidlandet Møre og Romsdal Ulstein, Volda, Ørsta
Oslofjord 7,280 23,880 134 440 2000 23 — — Akershus, Buskerud Frogn, Hurum [2]
North Cape 6,875 22,556 212 696 1999 E69 — Magerøya Finnmark Nordkapp [2]
Byfjord 5,875 19,275 223 732 1992 E39 Rennesøy Fixed Link Mosterøy, Sokn Rogaland Randaberg, Rennesøy [2]
Atlantic Ocean 5,779 18,960 250 820 2009 64 — Gjemnes Møre og Romsdal Averøy, Kristiansund
Finnøy[4] 5,685 18,652 200 660 2009 519 Finnøy Fixed Link Finnøy, Talgje Rogaland Finnøy, Rennesøy
Hitra 5,645 18,520 264 866 1994 714 Hitra–Frøya Fixed Link Hitra Sør-Trøndelag Hitra, Snillfjord [2]
Hundvåg* 5,600 18,400 2019 13 Ryfylke Fixed Link Hundvåg, Ryfylke Rogaland Stavanger [5]
Knappe* 5,400 17,700 29 95 2010 557 Ring Road West — Hordaland Bergen
Frøya 5,305 17,405 164 538 2000 714 Hitra–Frøya Fixed Link Frøya Sør-Trøndelag Frøya, Hitra [2]
Freifjord 5,086 16,686 130 430 1992 70 Kristiansund Fixed Link Kristiansund Møre og Romsdal Gjemnes, Kristiansund [2]
Mastrafjord 4,424 14,514 133 436 1992 E39 Rennesøy Fixed Link Rennesøy Rogaland Rennesøy [2]
Valderøy 4,222 13,852 133 436 1992 658 Vigra Fixed Link Valderøy, Vigra Møre og Romsdal Giske, Ålesund [2]
Halsnøy 4,120 13,520 136 446 2008 544 — Halsnøy Hordaland Kvinnherad
Godøy 3,844 12,612 153 502 1989 658 Vigra Fixed Link Godøy Møre og Romsdal Giske [2]
Hvaler 3,751 12,306 120 390 1989 108 — Hvaler Østfold Hvaler [2]
Ellingsøy 3,520 11,550 144 472 1987 658 Vigra Fixed Link Ellingsøy Møre og Romsdal Giske [2]
Tromsøysund* 3,500 11,500 102 335 1994 E8 — Tromsøya Troms Tromsø [2]
Ibestad 3,396 11,142 112 367 2000 848 — Ibestad Troms Ibestad [2]
Sløverfjord 3,337 10,948 112 367 1997 E10 Lofoten Fixed Link Lofoten Nordland Hadsel [2]
Bjarkøy 3,250 10,660 129 423 867 Bjarkøy Fixed Link Bjarkøya Troms Harstad [6]
Vardø 2,892 9,488 88 289 1983 E75 — Vardøya Finnmark Vardø [2]
Fannefjord 2,743 8,999 101 331 1991 64 Skåla Fixed Link Skålahalvøya Møre og Romsdal Molde [2]
Rya 2,675 8,776 87 285 2011 858 — Malangshalvøya Troms Tromsø
Flekkerøy 2,327 7,635 101 331 1989 457 — Flekkerøy Vest-Agder Kristiansand [2]
Melkøysund 2,316 7,598 62 203 2003 Private — Melkøya Finnmark Hammerfest
Maursund 2,122 6,962 93 305 1991 866 — Kågen Troms Nordreisa, Skjervøy [2]
Bjorøy 2,012 6,601 88 289 1996 FV 207 — Bjorøy Hordaland Bergen, Fjell
Skatestraum 1,902 6,240 91 299 2002 616 Bremanger Fixed Link Bremangerlandet Sogn og Fjordane Bremanger [2]
Kvalsund 1,650 5,410 56 184 1988 863 — Rinvassøya Troms Tromsø [2]
Bjørvika* 1,100 3,600 20 66 2010 E18 Oslo Package 1 — Oslo Oslo
Skansen 715 2,346 14 46 2010 706 Nordre avlastningsvei — Sør-Trøndelag Trondheim

Under construction

The following tunnels are under construction, but are not yet completed or taken into use.

Name Length
(m)		 Length
(ft)		 Depth
(m)		 Depth
(ft)		 Opening Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s)
Rogfast* 25,000 82,000 390 1,280 2033 E39 Rogaland Fixed Link Kvitsøy, Haugaland Rogaland Bokn, Kvitsøy, Randaberg [7]

Proposed

The following includes tunnels which have been proposed and which are either being planned by the Norwegian Public Road Administration, or are in the National Transport Plan 2010–2019. Projects which have been abandoned or have not been subject to public investigations are not included. Several of the most trafficked ferry sections are not currently proposed, as the fjords are too deep to have a tunnel with current technology. As of 2011, there are 160 ferry crossings in the country, the majority of which could potentially be replaced by fixed links. For the authorities, the decision to build new tunnels depends on the length, possibility of building a bridge, depth of the sound or fjord and population in the affected areas. While the first tunnels were mostly part of fixed links to connect island and sealocked communities to the mainland, focus has recently shifted more towards replacing ferries on main roads connecting regions, in particular European Route E39, which runs along the west coast.

Name Length
(m)		 Length
(ft)		 Depth
(m)		 Depth
(ft)		 Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s)
Langfjord 10,000 33,000 64 — Romsdal, Sekken Møre og Romsdal Molde, Rauma [8]
Sotra* 6,000 20,000 555 — Sotra, Øygarden Hordaland Bergen, Sund [9]
Tautra* 13,000 43,000 E39 Møre Fixed Link Otrøya Møre og Romsdal Midsund, Vestnes [10]
Storfjord — — — — 60 — Sykkylven, Stranda Møre og Romsdal Ålesund, Sykkylven [11]
Trondheimsfjord 15—36 km — 540 — 715 — Fosen Sør-Trøndelag Leksvik, Trondheim [12][13]
Trondheimsfjord 6—16 km — 400 — 710/718 Road/Electricity Fosen Sør-Trøndelag Agdenes/Rissa [14]
Moss–Horten 17,000 56,000 300 980 82 — — Vestfold, Østfold Horten, Moss [15]
Langsund 2,900 9,500 863 — — Troms og Finnmark Karlsøy

References

  1. ^ Kjærvik, Atle (1998). "Building the world's first underwater suspension tunnel". Gemini. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Norwegian Public Roads Administration (2004). "Beregning av gjenanskaffelsesverdien av riksvegnettet" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  3. ^ Norwegian Public Roads Administration. "Rv. 13 Solbakktunnelen" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  4. ^ Length is for the main tunnel from Hanasand to Ladstein. The branch to Talgje is 1,467 m (4,813 ft) long.
  5. ^ Norwegian Public Roads Administration. "Rv. 13 Hundvågtunnelen" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Åpnet Bjarkøyforbindelsene". ByggFakta (in Norwegian). Byggfakta DOCU. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  7. ^ Norwegian Public Roads Administration. "E39 Rogfast sub-sea road-tunnel" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  8. ^ Norwegian Public Roads Administration (17 June 2008). "Planprogram rv 64 Årfarnes – Sølsnes Langfjordtunnelen" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  9. ^ Norwegian Public Roads Administration (12 June 2008). "Konseptvalutgreiing (KVU) for Sotrasambandet" (in Norwegian). p. 60. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  10. ^ Reite, Terje; Vestre, Trond (11 August 2009). "– Møreaksen står for tur". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  11. ^ Sørås, Odd (27 September 2006). "Bru eller tunnel over Storfjorden". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  12. ^ Bruland, Amund; Grøv, Einar; Nilsen, Bjørn (July 2010). "Trondheimsfjorden Kryssing med fjelltunnel eller rørbru/flytebru" (PDF) (in Norwegian). SINTEF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  13. ^ Kothe-Næss, Thomas (8 March 2007). "Fosen- tunnel i 2015?". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  14. ^ "Vil bygge undersjøisk vei- og kabeltunnel". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). 23 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Jubler ikke over tunnelforslag". Tønsbergs Blad (in Norwegian). 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.

See also

Categories