Eiksund Tunnel
The Eiksund tunnel is an undersea tunnel in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, which runs under the Vartdalsfjorden connecting the [List of List of municipalities of Norway|municipalities of Norway|municipalities] of Ørsta and Ulstein. The tunnel is long and reaches a depth of below sea level, and was the deepest undersea tunnel in the world until Norway's Rogaland county opened its deep Ryfast tunnel system in December 2019.
Localities served
The tunnel was built as part of a large project including three tunnels and a bridge connecting several islands to the mainland. The bridge–tunnel complex serves the municipalities of Herøy, Sande, Ulstein, Hareid, Ørsta, and Volda, which together have over 40,000 inhabitants. The Eiksund Bridge joins Hareidlandet island and the village of Eiksund with the nearby island of Eika. The Eiksund Tunnel begins at the south end of the bridge goes under the Vartdalsfjorden and connects to the mainland near the village of Ørsta.These three structures are a part of Norwegian County Road 653, a highway that links Fv61 between Ulstein and Herøy to the European route E39 highway between Ørsta and Volda.
Construction
The long Eiksund Bridge and the long Helgehorn Tunnel were built along with the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel was about. The tunnel was originally intended to be opened to the public in July 2007, but numerous delays pushed the date back to December 2007 and then eventually to 2008. The tunnel was opened to traffic on 23 February 2008.The Eiksund Tunnel is an undersea rock tunnel created by drilling and blasting, with of explosive used. About of rock were removed during construction.