The Byfjord Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The tunnel runs between the village of

Grødem Grødem is a village in Randaberg municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is a middle-class suburb of the city of Stavanger, located immediately to the south. The village is located along the Byfjorden at the northeastern tip of t ...

on the mainland in

Randaberg Randaberg is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren, at the northern end of the Stavanger Peninsula. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Randaberg. Randaberg ...

municipality and the island of Sokn in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

municipality, running underneath the Byfjorden. The tunnel was built as part of the Rennesøy Fixed Link project which opened in 1992 with the goal of connecting all the islands of

Rennesøy Rennesøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was merged into Stavanger municipality on 1 January 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

to the mainland. The tunnel was a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

from 1992 until 2006. The tunnel is part of

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...

highway. With a maximum 8% grade, the tunnel reaches a depth of below sea level at its lowest point. The tunnel was Europe's longest and the world's deepest tunnel upon its completion, it was surpassed by a deeper tunnel (

Hitra Tunnel The Hitra Tunnel () is an undersea tunnel in Hitra Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The tunnel connects the island of Hitra to the mainland. The tunnel is long and reaches a depth of below sea level, making it the deepest tunnel in t ...

) in 1994 and a longer tunnel ( Nordkapp Tunnel) in 1999. The tunnel had an average daily traffic of 9,717 vehicles in 2018.

References

Subsea tunnels in Norway Road tunnels in Rogaland Randaberg Stavanger European route E39 in Norway 1992 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 1992 Former toll tunnels {{Rogaland-geo-stub