Norway’s $47BN Coastal Highway
- 10 months ago
The western coast of Norway is home to some of the most dramatic landscapes on earth.
Carved by glaciers throughout the ages, some of these fjords stretch for 200 kilometres
inland and are over a kilometre deep.
The current convoluted travel route through and around this terrain takes you along Norway’s
1,100 kilometre, 683 mile, E39 highway.
A road with a total journey time of 21 hours.
Now, the Norwegian government are working to improve access to services and residential
and labour markets across the country’s western regions by embarking on the largest
infrastructure project in the nation’s history.
Norway’s E39 highway runs between, Kristiansand
in the far south of the country and Trondheim in the north.
The route navigates its way
across the fjord network and features no fewer than seven ferry crossings.
The new coastal highway project aims to eliminate the need for ferry services altogether by
building a series of bridges and tunnels across, through and under the landscape.
With many of the fjords along the route being too wide or too deep for conventional infrastructure
to cross, innovative new solutions are being investigated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
Rogfast is the first in a series of crossings that will link the E39, connecting Stavanger
and Haugesund via a 27 kilometre, 16 mile, under sea tunnel.
This structure will reach depths of up to 390 metres below sea level, making it the
deepest as well as the longest undersea road tunnel in the world.
The Rogfast project will in fact consist of two tunnels connected every 250 metres with
emergency exits.
Each tunnel will have a lay-by at 500 metre intervals, along with telephone
and surveillance cameras along the route.
The tunnel will also feature a mid-route intersection with the island municipality of Kvitsøy creating
an undersea tunnel junction and connecting the island with the Norwegian mainland.
With work begun in 2018, this element of the project is set to be completed by 2026 at
a cost of USD $2BN.
While the Rogfast works are already underway, the scale of some other fjords is presenting
the project team with extreme engineering challenges.
Bjornafjord - located to the south of Bergen - stands 5 kilometres wide, and reaches depths
of 600 metres.
To cross this challenging stretch of water, a proposal has been put forward for a floating
bridge, anchored to the shore at both ends.
The Sulafjord crossing has seen two possible solutions put forward.
The first is for a three tower suspension bridge, with two of the bridges’ towers
anchored on land and the third central tower anchored to the seafloor, some 400 metres
below the water line.
An alternative proposal for a “submerged floating tunnel” would see two interconnected
tubes running side by side tethered to the seabed using high strength cables.
Crossing the Romsdalsfjord will require a 16 kilometre undersea tunnel, much like the
Rogfast project, from Alesund to Midsund - followed by a 2 kilometre suspension bridge
Carved by glaciers throughout the ages, some of these fjords stretch for 200 kilometres
inland and are over a kilometre deep.
The current convoluted travel route through and around this terrain takes you along Norway’s
1,100 kilometre, 683 mile, E39 highway.
A road with a total journey time of 21 hours.
Now, the Norwegian government are working to improve access to services and residential
and labour markets across the country’s western regions by embarking on the largest
infrastructure project in the nation’s history.
Norway’s E39 highway runs between, Kristiansand
in the far south of the country and Trondheim in the north.
The route navigates its way
across the fjord network and features no fewer than seven ferry crossings.
The new coastal highway project aims to eliminate the need for ferry services altogether by
building a series of bridges and tunnels across, through and under the landscape.
With many of the fjords along the route being too wide or too deep for conventional infrastructure
to cross, innovative new solutions are being investigated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
Rogfast is the first in a series of crossings that will link the E39, connecting Stavanger
and Haugesund via a 27 kilometre, 16 mile, under sea tunnel.
This structure will reach depths of up to 390 metres below sea level, making it the
deepest as well as the longest undersea road tunnel in the world.
The Rogfast project will in fact consist of two tunnels connected every 250 metres with
emergency exits.
Each tunnel will have a lay-by at 500 metre intervals, along with telephone
and surveillance cameras along the route.
The tunnel will also feature a mid-route intersection with the island municipality of Kvitsøy creating
an undersea tunnel junction and connecting the island with the Norwegian mainland.
With work begun in 2018, this element of the project is set to be completed by 2026 at
a cost of USD $2BN.
While the Rogfast works are already underway, the scale of some other fjords is presenting
the project team with extreme engineering challenges.
Bjornafjord - located to the south of Bergen - stands 5 kilometres wide, and reaches depths
of 600 metres.
To cross this challenging stretch of water, a proposal has been put forward for a floating
bridge, anchored to the shore at both ends.
The Sulafjord crossing has seen two possible solutions put forward.
The first is for a three tower suspension bridge, with two of the bridges’ towers
anchored on land and the third central tower anchored to the seafloor, some 400 metres
below the water line.
An alternative proposal for a “submerged floating tunnel” would see two interconnected
tubes running side by side tethered to the seabed using high strength cables.
Crossing the Romsdalsfjord will require a 16 kilometre undersea tunnel, much like the
Rogfast project, from Alesund to Midsund - followed by a 2 kilometre suspension bridge