The Tromsøysund Tunnel ( no, Tromsøysundtunnelen) is an
undersea
The underwater environment is the region below the surface of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characterist ...
highway tunnel in
Tromsø Municipality
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 2 ...
in
Troms og Finnmark
Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...
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 runs under the
Tromsøysundet
or is a strait located in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The long strait separates the island of Tromsøya (the location of the city of Tromsø) from the mainland east of the island. The strait is crossed by the Trom ...
strait, connecting the island of
Tromsøya
or is an island in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It lies in the Tromsøysundet strait between the mainland and the larger island of Kvaløya. The city of Tromsø is located on the island, which has 39,882 resident ...
(and the
city of Tromsø) with the mainland suburb of
Tromsdalen
Tromsdalen ( sme, Romssavággi Sálašvággi) is an urban neighborhood in the city of Tromsø which is in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located just to the east of the city centre on the mainland along the coas ...
.
The tunnel is part of
European route E08
The European route E8 is a European route that goes from Tromsø, Norway to Turku, Finland. The length of the route is .
* E8: Tromsø – Nordkjosbotn – Skibotn – Kilpisjärvi – Kaaresuvanto – Muonio – Tornio – Keminmaa – Kem ...
, (whose northern terminus is on the island itself) and it consists of two tubes, each with two driving lanes. The two tubes are not equal in length; one tube is long and the other is long. The lowest point in the tunnels is below
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
, and the maximum
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
is 8.2%. The two tubes are linked by 15 service-tunnels.
The tunnel opened on 3 December 1994 to relieve Tromsøya's only other mainland connection, the
Tromsø Bridge
The Tromsø Bridge ( no, Tromsøbrua) is a cantilever road bridge in the city of Tromsø which is located in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It crosses the Tromsøysundet strait between Tromsdalen on the mainland and th ...
, which had been plagued by severe traffic congestion for more than a decade. The tunnel is located to the north of the bridge; on the island side it emerges just below the
University of Tromsø
The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...
and the
University Hospital of North Norway
The University Hospital of North Norway ( no, Universitetssykehuset Nord-Norge) or UNN is a hospital and health trust.
UNN is a university hospital for the region which includes the counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark. It is part of the ...
, both major sources of traffic between the island and the mainland; on the mainland side it emerges at Tomasjord, which is centrally located between the densely populated suburbs of
Tromsdalen
Tromsdalen ( sme, Romssavággi Sálašvággi) is an urban neighborhood in the city of Tromsø which is in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located just to the east of the city centre on the mainland along the coas ...
and Kroken.
See also
*
List of tunnels in Norway
This list of tunnels in Norway includes any road, rail or waterway tunnel in Norway.
There are over 900 road tunnels in Norway with total length exceeding 750 km
The longest road tunnels (>7 km, with opening year and length):
The longe ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tromsoysund Tunnel
Road tunnels in Troms og Finnmark
Subsea tunnels in Norway
Buildings and structures in Tromsø
1994 establishments in Norway
Tunnels completed in 1994
Roads within the Arctic Circle