Europe’s £1.5bn ‘under sea’ tunnel that will end traffic chaos

Europe boasts the world’s longest subsea road tunnel, an impressive nine-mile infrastructure project, but now there’s a new contender looking to take the top spot.

The Ryfast Tunnel, part of the Norwegian National Road 13, currently holds the accolade. It runs between the city of Stavanger and Solbakk in the municipality of Strand by going under a large fjord. 

It was automatically crowned the longest subsea road tunnel in the world upon its opening in 2019, but now, five years later, there’s a new mega-project looking to hold the record. 

The Rogfast Tunnel, also in Norway, is being constructed just a stone’s throw from the Ryfast Tunnel. Rogfast will stretch 16.5 miles, almost twice the length of Ryfast, and is due to open in 2033. 

It lies under the E39 highway between Stavanger and Bergen, a highly populated region full of deep fjords and land masses that have split off from the mainland.

The Rogfast Tunnel aims to ease travel congestion as a fifth of Norway’s 5.6 million residents live in the southwest around Stavanger and Bergen. This would also ease the burden on ferries to transport so many people.

The E39 highway between Kristiansand and Trondheim currently takes 21 hours and stretches 680 miles, but the new tunnel would halve the journey time and shave off 31 miles.

Rogfast will take traffic north of Stavanger along two tunnels through the rock below a fjord. It will become the deepest and longest subsea road tunnel, reaching 392 metres below sea level. The full length of the tunnel will take 35 minutes to drive through.

Rogfast project manager Oddvar Kaarmo said: “The port at Mortavika is quite exposed and in the winter, ferries sometimes have to divert to another port. Once the tunnel is finished, we will not have to rely on good weather to keep the roads open.”

The project began in 2018 with the construction of two access tunnels and is estimated to cost a staggering £1.45 billion, the equivalent of £52,000 per metre of tunnel.

Kaarmo added: “About half a year after the last drill and blast, we have to deliver the project, so we have to get a lot of work done simultaneously. It’s more about logistics than tunnelling.”

The government will cover 40 percent of the cost and the remainder will be made back with tolls. An estimated 6,000 vehicles will travel through Rogfast every day, and each will be charged an average of £30.