Norðoyatunnilin
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Norðoyatunnilin (''The Northern Isles Tunnel'') is a two-lane road tunnel under the Leirvíksfjørður in the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
. It connects the islands of
Eysturoy Eysturoy (, meaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely rugged, with som ...
and
Borðoy Borðoy (, ) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands. Its name means 'headland island'. There are eight settlements: Klaksvík (the second largest town in the Faroes), Norðoyri, Ánir, Árnafjørður, Strond, Norðtoftir, Depil and ...
. The tunnel is 6.2 km long and goes down to a depth of 150 metres below sea level. The maximum gradient is approximately 6%. The tunnel entrances are near the towns of
Leirvík Leirvík is a town on the Faroe Islands and was an important regional ferry harbour at the east coast of the second-largest island Eysturoy. It was the only town in the municipality of Leirvík (''Leirvíkar kommuna''), however on 1 January 2009 ...
on Eysturoy, and
Klaksvík Klaksvík () is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality. History The fir ...
on Borðoy. Until the
Eysturoyartunnilin The Eysturoy Tunnel (, previously known as ) is a large Undersea tunnel, undersea road tunnel under the sound in the Faroe Islands, connecting the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturoy. It also crosses the southern part of , and connec ...
opened in December 2020, Norðoyatunnilin was the longest tunnel in the Faroe Islands.


History

In 1988 ''Landsverkfrøðingurin'' (the national office of public works) carried out a number of seismic investigations in Leirvíksfjørður (the strait between Eysturoy and Borðoy). A year earlier, an engineer had drawn up an overall plan showing alternative sites for constructing tunnels. Further surveys in 1988 confirmed that the tunnel plans were considered to be economically viable. In 2003, after the 1990s Faroese economic crisis, work began on boring the tunnel between Eysturoy and Borðoy. The official opening of the tunnel was on April 29, 2006. Traffic has steadily increased from 662,828 vehicles in 2007 to 1,308,519 in 2019 (3,585 per day). The project cost 395 million
Danish kroner The krone (; plural: ''kroner''; currency sign, sign: kr.; ISO 4217, code: DKK) is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common ...
and is expected to be repaid by 2021.


See also

*
List of tunnels of the Faroe Islands Tunnels and bridges are an important part of the Faroe Islands, Faroese transportation network. Road tunnels This list shows the Faroese tunnels, listed by age: In addition, there are custom-built tunnels in Fuglafjørður used as storage sp ...


References


External links


UF.fo - "Tunnel to Northern Islands now open for all Traffic" (archived version)
(of May 3, 2006)
Tunnil.fo - Official homepageThe opening of Norðoyatunnilin April 29. 2006
Tunnels in the Faroe Islands Undersea tunnels in Europe Tunnels completed in 2006 Road tunnels 2006 establishments in the Faroe Islands {{Faroes-geo-stub