List of tunnels in Iceland

Hvalfjörður Tunnel is 5,770 m (18,930 ft) long, and reaches a depth of 165 m (541 ft) below sea level.

There are 14 open road tunnels in Iceland in the Icelandic road system. Additionally, there is one road tunnel only for use by a silicon plant in Húsavík. Tunnels in Iceland are usually built under mountains to prevent winter isolation of remote communities which would otherwise have to depend on high roads that are often closed due to snow, to shorten distance between communities, and to increase road safety by bypassing dangerous stretches of road. A tunnel under a fjord, the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, is among the longest underwater road tunnels in the world, and goes as deep as 165 m (541 ft) below sea level.[1]

Tunneling is a relatively recent trend in Icelandic road infrastructure. It started off slowly and was at first only used in extreme circumstances, such as under Arnardalshamar in 1948. The first tunnel of significant length was opened in 1967 and provided the northern town of Siglufjörður with its first year-round road link to the rest of the country. The second tunnel, opened in 1977, replaced a difficult road over the mountain pass Oddsskarð in eastern Iceland, which could only be used during the short summer and was the only road link to the town of Neskaupstaður. The third tunnel was opened in 1992 and replaced a very hazardous mountainside road to the northern town of Ólafsfjörður. All three of these tunnels were built as a single lane with widenings at regular intervals, where vehicles coming from opposite directions can pass. As improved engineering methods made tunneling cheaper and Iceland became more prosperous in the 1990s, tunnels became viable options for places where they had not been considered before. In 1996 the Vestfjarðagöng tunnel opened in the Westfjords region; it ended the winter isolation of three villages by linking them to the town of Ísafjörður. This tunnel was the last one built with single-lane segments.

In 1998 the sub-sea Hvalfjörður Tunnel opened, reducing the distance from Reykjavík to the town of Akranes by 60 kilometers and consequently abolishing the ferry service between the two. The distance between Reykjavík and other destinations on the north side of the fjord Hvalfjörður was reduced by 45 kilometers. It was the first tunnel in Iceland to have been financed, built and operated by a private entity and, as such, it was also the first tunnel where tolls were charged. The original plan assumed it would take 20 years (until 2018) to pay back the cost of building the tunnel and that the tunnel. As per the original plan, the tunnel was turned over to the state on the 30th of September 2018 when the Icelandic Road Administration took over its operation. Traffic has proved to be significantly higher than originally projected. So high in fact, that the operator of the tunnel has suggested building a new tunnel alongside the current one, since traffic is reaching the threshold mandated by European regulation (10,000 vehicles daily) where traffic in opposing directions is meant to be separated.

Nine tunnels have opened since the beginning of the 21st century. In the 2010s, Bolungarvíkurgöng on route 61 in Westfjords between Hnifsdalur and Bolungarvik, replacing the road which was often affected by rockfalls and avalanches, and Héðinsfjarðargöng I and II on route 76 in Northeastern Region between the towns Ólafsfjörður and Siglufjörður, reducing the distance between the towns to 15 km.

## Tunnels

[edit]

Name  | Length  | Lanes  | Date of opening  | Date of closure  | Location  | Route #

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Vestfjarðagöng | 9,160 m (30,052 ft) total

(Breiðadalur 4,150 m (13,615 ft),
Botnsdalur 2,907 m (9,537 ft), and
Tungudalur 2,103 m (6,900 ft) tunnels meet in a 3-way junction)

| 1a (Breiðadalur and Botnsdalur),
2 (Tungudalur)  | September 1996  |  | Westfjords (Ísafjörður \- Suðureyri \- Breiðadalur)  | 60 and 65
Vaðlaheiðargöng | 7,400 m (24,278 ft)  | 2  | 21 December 2018  |  | Northeastern Region (Eyjafjörður \- Fnjóskadalur)  | 1
Héðinsfjarðargöng I  | 7,100 m (23,294 ft)  | 2  | 2 October 2010  |  | Northeastern Region (Ólafsfjörður \- Héðinsfjörður)  | 76
Norðfjarðargöng | 7,908 m (25,945 ft)  | 2  | 11 November 2017[2] |  | Eastern Region (Eskifjörður \- Norðfjörður)  | 92
Fáskrúðsfjarðargöng | 5,900 m (19,357 ft)  | 2  | 9 September 2005  |  | Eastern Region (Fáskrúðsfjörður \- Reyðarfjörður)  | 1
Hvalfjörður Tunnel | 5,770 m (18,930 ft)  | 2b | 1 July 1998  |  | Capital Region -- Western Region | 1
Dýrafjarðargöng | 5,600 m (18,373 ft)  | 2  | 25 October 2020  |  | Westfjords (Arnarfjörður \- Dýrafjörður)  | 60
Bolungarvíkurgöng | 5,400 m (17,717 ft)  | 2  | 25 September 2010[3] |  | Westfjords (Bolungarvík \- Hnífsdal)  | 61
Héðinsfjarðargöng II  | 3,900 m (12,795 ft)  | 2  | 2 October 2010  |  | Northeastern Region (Héðinsfjörður \- Siglufjörður)  | 76
Múlagöng (Ólafsfjardarmúli)  | 3,400 m (11,155 ft)  | 1a | 1 March 1991  |  | Northeastern Region (Dalvík \- Ólafsfjörð)  | 82
Almannaskarðsgöng | 1,300 m (4,265 ft)  | 2  | 24 June 2005  |  | Eastern Region (Route 1, east of Höfn)  | 1
Húsavíkurhöfði Tunnel | 992 m (3,255 ft)  | 2  | 4 November 2017[4] |  | Northeastern Region (Húsavík)  |
Strákagöng | 800 m (2,625 ft)  | 1a | 1967  |  | Northwestern Region (west of Siglufjörður)  | 76
Oddskarðsgöng | 640 m (2,100 ft)  | 1a | 1977  | 11 November 2017  | Eastern Region (west of Neskaupstaður)  | 92
Arnardalshamar Tunnel | 30 m (98 ft)  | 2  | 1948  |  | Westfjords | 61
Fjarðarheiðargöng**  | 13,500 m (44,291 ft)  | 2  | 2029[5] |  | Eastern Region (Egilsstaðir \- Seyðisfjörður)  | 93
Sources:[1][6]

aSingle lane with widenings for passing.
bThere is a third lane for passing on the uphill side at the north end of the tunnel.
*Under construction.
**In planning.

## See also

[edit]

* List of tunnels by location
* Transport in Iceland
* Vegagerðin

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Merzagora, Eugenio (June 2006). "Road Tunnels in Iceland". The World's Longest Tunnel Page. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
2. ^ "Norðfjarðargöngin opnuð - Vísir". visir.is. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
3. ^ "Bolungarvíkurgöng opnuð". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 25 Sep 2010.
4. ^ "Húsavíkurhöfðagöng opnuð í morgun". Retrieved 2017-11-05.
5. ^ "Fjarðarheiðargöng á áætlun og verði tilbúin 2029". RÚV (in Icelandic). 2021-07-02. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
6. ^ "The Road System 2012" (PDF). Icelandic Road Administration, ICERA (Vegagerðin). May 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-30.