Norðoyatunnilin


Norðoyatunnilin is a two-lane road tunnel under the Leirvíksfjørður in the Faroe Islands. It connects the islands of Eysturoy and Borðoy. 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 Eysturoyartunnilin opens in 2020, Norðoyatunnilin is the longest tunnel in the Faroe Islands.

History

In 1988 Landsverkfrøðingurin carried out a number of seismic investigations in Leirvíksfjørður. 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 29th, 2006. Traffic has steadily increased from 662,828 vehicles in 2007 to 1,308,519 in 2019. The project cost 395 million Danish krones and is expected to be repaid by 2021.