Bømlafjord Tunnel
The Bømlafjord Tunnel (Norwegian: Bømlafjordtunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel under Bømlafjorden which connects the island of Føyno in Stord Municipality to the mainland at Dalshovda in Sveio Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel is 7.82 kilometers (4.86 mi) long and reaches 260.4 m (854 ft) below mean sea level. It carries three lanes of European Road E39 and is part of the Triangle Link, a fixed link which connects Sunnhordland to Haugaland. Plans for the tunnel arose in the 1980s; construction started in 1997 and the tunnel opened on 27 December 2000. The tunnel was built using the drilling and blasting method, with two teams building from each end. The tunnel runs through an area composed mostly of gneiss, phyllite and greenstone. The tunnel was the longest subsea tunnel in Norway until the opening of Karmøytunnelen. It is still (2013) the deepest point on the E-road network. The tunnel was a toll road from the opening until 30 April 2013. In 2012 the tunnel had an average 4,084 vehicles per day.
Entrance to the tunnel from Sveio | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Sveio and Stord, Norway |
| Coordinates | 59.72216°N 5.43896°E |
| Route | E39 |
| Start | Føyno |
| End | Dalshovda |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 16 September 1997 |
| Opened | 27 December 2000 |
| Operator | Norwegian Public Roads Administration |
| Toll | No |
| Vehicles per day | 4,974 (2016) |
| Technical | |
| Length | 7,820 m (25,660 ft) |
| No. of lanes | 3 |
| Operating speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) |
| Lowest elevation | −260.4 m (−854 ft) |
| Grade | 9% |