The Fjærland Tunnel () is a long

road tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 opened on 31 May 1986 and it is part of

Norwegian National Road 5 Norwegian National Road 5 (, ) is a national road in Norway. It runs between Florø, Kinn to Lærdal, Vestland. Starting where the E16 enters the Lærdal Tunnel, approximately five kilometers south of Lærdalsøyri, the road goes northwest ...

. The opening ceremony was led by former US vice president

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

who has family connections to Fjærland. The tunnel connects the village of Lunde in

Sunnfjord Municipality Sunnfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Førde. Other villages in the municipality include Naustdal, Sande, ...

and the village of

Fjærland Fjærland or Mundal is a village in Sogndal Municipality, at the end of the Fjærlandsfjorden, in Vestland county, Norway. The Fjærlandfjorden is a branch going north off the Sognefjorden, the longest fjord in Norway. The village area is locate ...

Sogndal Municipality Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

. The tunnel goes through mountains in the

Jostedalsbreen National Park Jostedalsbreen National Park () is a national park in Norway that encompasses the largest glacier on the European mainland, Jostedalsbreen. The park was established by royal decree on 25 October 1991, and then in 1998, it was enlarged to the nort ...

which lies between the two villages. The Marabreen

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

sits high above the tunnel. The village area of

was only accessible by boat on the

Fjærlandsfjorden Fjærlandsfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It is a fjord arm that branches off the main Sognefjorden to the north, running through Sogndal Municipality. The long fjord begins at the village of Fjærland in Sogndal, flowing to the s ...

until 1986 when this tunnel opened. Then in 1995, the Frudal Tunnel opened which continued National Road 5 from Fjærland all the way to

Sogndalsfjøra Sogndalsfjøra is a village in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. It is located where the river Sogndalselvi runs out in the Sogndalsfjorden, a branch of the large Sognefjorden. The village is located about northwest of the ...

References

Sogndal Sunnfjord Road tunnels in Vestland {{Norway-tunnel-stub