The Hitra Tunnel ( no, Hitratunnelen) is an

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry li ...

Hitra Municipality Hitra is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and hundreds smaller islands, islets, and skerries. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The tunnel connects the island of Hitra to the mainland. The tunnel is long and reaches a depth of below sea level, making it the deepest tunnel in the world when it was built. The tunnel begins on the island of Jøsnøya, just south of the village of

Sandstad Sandstad is a village in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the Trondheimsleia on the southeastern coast of the island of Hitra, about southwest of the village of Hestvika. The north entrance to the ...

. The tunnel then runs under the

Trondheimsleia The Trondheimsleia is a strait in Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag counties in Norway. The long strait runs between the islands of Smøla and Hitra and the mainland municipalities of Aure, Heim, and Orkland. The strait has several fjords which br ...

to the island of

Hemnskjela Hemnskjela (sometimes ''Hemnskjel'') is an island in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is located in the Trondheimsleia strait at the mouth of the Hemnfjorden, just south of the village of Sandstad on the nearby ...

. There is a small bridge connecting Hemnskjela to the mainland. The tunnel was built as part of a large project called "Fastlandsforbindelsen Hitra–Frøya". The project also included the construction of the

Frøya Tunnel The Frøya Tunnel ( no, Frøyatunnelen) is an undersea tunnel connecting the municipalities of Frøya and Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. The tunnel is located about south of the village of Sistranda on Frøya. The long road tunnel reach ...

and the construction of a road and bridge network connecting the islands of Fjellværøy and Frøya. The tunnel has three lanes. Nearly 2,500 cars pass through it every day. Electronics and pumps handle over of water per hour.

Media gallery

File:Hitratunnelhemnskjel2.jpg, View of the south end of the tunnel File:Hemnskjelbrua.jpg, View of the bridge connecting Hemnskjela to the mainland

References

Hitra Road tunnels in Trøndelag Subsea tunnels in Norway 1994 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 1994 {{Norway-tunnel-stub