Norðoyatunnilin (''The Northern Isles Tunnel'') is a two-lane

road tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

under the Leirvíksfjørður in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. It connects the islands of

Eysturoy Eysturoy (pronounced estroimeaning '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 ...

and

Borðoy Borðoy ( da, Bordø) 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, ...

. 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 percent. The tunnel entrances are near the towns of

Leirvík Leirvík ( da, Lervig) is a town on the Faroe Islands and was an important regional ferry harbour at the east coast of the second-largest island Eysturoy. Leirvík has a population of 1,048 (2022). It was the only town in the municipality of Lei ...

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 first ...

on Borðoy. Until the

Eysturoyartunnilin The Eysturoyartunnilin (in English the Eysturoy Tunnel, earlier known as the Skálafjarðartunnilin) is a large undersea road tunnel under the Tangafjørður sound in the Faroe Islands, connecting the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturo ...

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 and is expected to be repaid by 2021.

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

History

See also

References

External links