Eiksund Tunnel

Eiksund Tunnel

Opening ceremony, 23 February 2008
Overview
Location	Møre og Romsdal, Norway
Coordinates	62°13′06″N 5°59′10″E / 62.2182°N 5.9862°E / 62.2182; 5.9862Coordinates: 62°13′06″N 5°59′10″E / 62.2182°N 5.9862°E / 62.2182; 5.9862
Route	653
Operation
Opened	23 February 2008
Operator	Statens vegvesen
Traffic	Automotive
Character	Passenger
Vehicles per day	2884
Technical
Length	7,765 m (25,476 ft)
No. of lanes	3
Lowest elevation	−287 m (−942 ft)
Width	10 m (33 ft)
Grade	Maximum: 9.6%

The Eiksund tunnel (Norwegian: Eiksundtunnelen) is an undersea tunnel in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, which runs under the Vartdalsfjorden connecting Ørsta Municipality and Ulstein Municipality. The tunnel is 7,765 metres (25,476 ft) long and reaches a depth of −287 metres (−942 ft), which makes it the deepest undersea tunnel of its kind in the world.

The tunnel was built as part of a large project including 3 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 (on Eika island) 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 Norwegian County Road 61 between Ulstein and Herøy to the European route E39 highway between Ørsta and Volda.

The 405-metre (1,329 ft) long Eiksund Bridge and the 1,160-metre (3,810 ft) long Helgehorn Tunnel were built along with the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel was about 800,000,000 kr. 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.