Norðoyatunnilin (''The Northern Isles Tunnel'') is a two-lane
road tunnel under the Leirvíksfjørður in the
Faroe Islands. It connects the islands of
Eysturoy 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 on Eysturoy, and
Klaksvík on Borðoy. Until the
Eysturoyartunnilin 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.
See also
*
List of tunnels of the Faroe Islands
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
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