The Vigra Fixed Link ( no, Vigrasambandet), also known as the Ã…lesund Tunnels (), is a
fixed link
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
connecting the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Giske
Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres i ...
and the island of
Ellingsøya
Ellingsøya or Ellingsøy is the northernmost island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. With an area of , Ellingsøya is the second largest island in the municipality after Uksenøya. The island is located northeast o ...
to the mainland and the island city of
Ã…lesund
Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...
. It consists of the long
Ellingsøy Tunnel
The Ellingsøy Tunnel ( no, Ellingsøytunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tunnel runs between the center of the city of Ålesund on the island of Nørvøya and the village of Hoff ...
between Ålesund and Ellingsøya, the long
Valderøy Tunnel
The Valderøy Tunnel ( no, Valderøytunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel which runs between the islands of Ellingsøya (in Ålesund Municipality) and Valderøya (in Giske Municipality) in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long tunnel is part o ...
connecting the islands of Ellingsøya and
Valderøya
Valderøya or Valderøy is an island off the west coast of Norway. It is part of Giske Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county. The island is connected to the city of Ålesund to the south via the Valderøy Tunnel to the island of Ellingsøy an ...
, the long
Godøy Tunnel
The Godøy Tunnel ( no, Godøytunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel which runs between the islands of Giske and Godøy in Giske Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tunnel is long; it is part of County Road 658 and the Vigra Fixed ...
between the islands of Valderøya and
Godøy, and the
Giske Bridge
The Giske Bridge ( no, Giskebrua) is a concrete beam bridge between the islands of Valderøya and Giske in Giske Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The bridge is long, the longest span is , and the maximum clearance to the sea is ...
from Valderøya to
Giske
Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres i ...
island. Valderøya was already connected by bridge to the island of
Vigra
Vigra is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county on the west coast of Norway. The municipality existed from 1890 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into the present-day Giske Municipality. The former municipality was mad ...
, which meant that the fixed link also connected the city of Ã…lesund to
Ã…lesund Airport, Vigra
Ålesund Airport ( nn, Ålesund lufthamn, ), or alternatively Ålesund Vigra Airport, is an international airport serving the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the island of Vigra in Giske Municipality and fe ...
. The fixed link opened between 1987 and 1989, and was financed as a
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
. The link is part of
Norwegian National Road 658
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
and
Norwegian County Road 658
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
.
History
The two first tunnels, Ellingsøy and Valderøy, and the Giske Bridge were opened by
King Olav V
Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...
on 20 October 1987. The Godøy Tunnel opened two years later. The project was among the first subsea tunnels in Norway.
The project cost , all of which was financed by debt taken up by the partially publicly owned company Ã…lesund og Giske Tunnel- og Brusamband AS. The fixed link received a concession to collect tolls for 22 years. The project was built in a period with much optimism, and the banks were more than willing to lend large sums for the project. However, by the time the project was finished, the interest rate had increased to 16.5%, and the toll company could not pay the interest, let alone the
principal sum
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
. By 1990, the company was nearly bankrupt, but was saved by an agreement with the banks. Other factors contributing to the financial problems was the choice late in the project to include the Giske Bridge and Godøy Tunnel, as well as lower traffic than estimated.
When the tolls were removed on 25 October 2009, drivers had paid , while the company still had in outstanding debt. As the tunnels are owned by the
Norwegian Public Roads Administration
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration ( no, Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road netw ...
, the concession has run out, and the company has no assets, the debt capital is lost for the banks. The financial difficulties was one of the main reasons that
Sunnmørsbanken went bankrupt in the early 1990s. Other banks that have lost capital include
Bankenes Sikringsfond,
DnB NOR
DNB ASA (formerly DnB NOR ASA) is Norway's largest financial services group with total combined assets of more than NOK 1.9 trillion and a market capitalisation NOK 164 billion as of 20 May 2016. DNB's head office is located in Oslo.
The two lar ...
,
Nordea
Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a European financial services group operating in northern Europe and based in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the successive m ...
,
Fokus Bank
Danske Bank, formerly named Fokus Bank, is the Norwegian operations of the Danish Danske Bank. It has long been one of the largest banks in Scandinavia.
Danske Bank has 41 local branches spread around all of Norway. The main office is in Trond ...
,
Sparebanken Møre
Sparebanken Møre is a Norwegian savings bank, headquartered in Ålesund, Norway. The banks main market
is Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the coun ...
and
Ørsta Sparebank
is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region of Western Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Ørsta ( ...
. An upgrade in 2008 and 2009 of the Ellingsøy and Valderøy tunnels was completed on 10 October 2009. The upgrades cost , which included better fire protection. During parts of the reconstruction, the tunnels were closed and a ferry was put into service from Ålesund to Valderøya and Ellingsøya.
References
{{coord, 62.4904, 6.1727, region:NO, display=title
Subsea tunnels in Norway
Road tunnels in Møre og Romsdal
Norwegian County Road 658
Former toll roads in Norway
Giske