Norway plans to build £1.6bn underwater ‘megatunnel’ to halve 21 hour drive time
The 16.5-mile road tunnel will save drivers 11 hours on Norway’s E39 coastal highway
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Norway has revealed plans to build the world’s longest and deepest underwater tunnel to cut 11 hours from the journey on its E39 coastal highway.
The 16.5-mile tunnel, known as Rogfast, will connect the districts of Randaberg and Bokn across a 16-mile wide body of water.
Drivers will have to pay a toll of around £30 to use the tunnel, which takes 35 minutes to cross.
With a four-lane dual tunnel design and a maximum depth of 1,300ft, the tunnel will cost an estimated £1.6 billion to build and be carved through a layer of rock underneath the water.
Plans for Rogfast were originally approved by Norway’s parliament in 2017 but were halted in 2019 due to budget and contracting issues.
The project aims to cut 11 hours from the current 21-hour journey on Norway’s 680-mile E39 coastal highway from Kristiansand in the south to Trondheim in the north.
Currently, the route is interrupted by seven ferry crossings that are frequently delayed due to bad weather, said Oddvar Kaarmo, the Rogfast project manager.
He said: “The port at Mortavika is quite exposed, and in the winter, ferries sometimes have to divert to another port.
“Once the tunnel is finished, we will not have to rely on good weather to keep the roads open. About half a year after the last drill and blast, we have to deliver the project, so we have to get a lot of work done simultaneously. It’s more about logistics than tunnelling.”
The tunnel is part of a £36 billion upgrade of the entire E39 road – 40 per cent funded by taxpayer money with the rest recouped from the toll charge – and is expected to be completed around 2033.
Other proposals to combat the irregular ferry connections include “floating” underwater tunnels tethered to the sea floor where the fjord water is too deep to tunnel.
Once built, Rogfast will be the world’s longest and deepest sub-sea road tunnel, overtaking the 15-mile Norwegian Laerdal tunnel between Laerdal and Aurland.
Elsewhere, a new 17-mile underwater tunnel could link Europe’s high-speed rail network to North Africa by 2030 – if a €6bn proposal goes ahead.
In May, it was announced that strategic planning is underway for the tunnel, which would introduce a high-speed train service by connecting Spain’s existing rail lines to Morocco’s 200mph Al Boraq route that opened in 2018.
A route departing Madrid, Spain, for Casablanca, Morocco, would travel via Algeciras and Tangier and pass under the Strait of Gibraltar.
Developers hope the tunnel could open in just six years, in time for the three countries – Spain, Portugal and Morocco – to host the 2030 Fifa World Cup.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
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