Norway's geography is dominated by fjords and islands. As of 2011, the country has thirty-three undersea tunnels, most of which are fixed links. Tunnels are chosen to replace ferries to allow residents of islands and remote peninsulas access to regional centers, where water-crossings are too long for bridges. The Ryfylke Tunnel is the country's longest, at .
The Ryfylke Tunnel is the world's deepest, reaching below mean sea level. Norway's first subsea tunnel was the Vardø Tunnel, which opened in 1982. Most of the tunnels are built as fixed links, allowing ferry services to be abandoned. In 2010, the first three tunnels in cities, the Bjørvika Tunnel, the Skansen Tunnel and the Knappe Tunnel, were opened, all of which were built as motorways to bypass the city center. Suspended tunnels have been proposed, which could be installed in places too deep for conventional tunnels, such as the Sognefjord.
Current The following lists all subsea tunnels in use as of 2019. It includes the name, length in meters and feet, depth below mean sea level in meters and feet, the year the tunnel was taken into use with ordinary traffic (which may differ from the year it was officially opened), the road the tunnel carries, the county or counties the tunnel is in, and the municipalities, including any the tunnel passes through. Roads starting with E indicates a European route, while FV indicates a county road without signposted road number; only numbers indicates roadside-numbered county roads which are former national roads.
Name Length(m) Length(ft) Depth(m) Depth(ft) Opened Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s) Ryfylke 2019 Ryfylke Fixed Link Ryfylke Rogaland Stavanger and Strand Karmøy 2013 T-Link — Rogaland Karmøy and Tysvær Bømlafjord 2000 Triangle Link Bømlo and Stord Vestland Stord and Sveio Eiksund 2008 653 Eiksund Fixed Link Hareidlandet Møre og Romsdal Ulstein, Volda, and Ørsta Oslofjord 2000 — — Akershus Frogn and Asker North Cape 1999 — Magerøya Finnmark Nordkapp Byfjord 1992 Rennesøy Fixed Link Mosterøy and Sokn Rogaland Randaberg and Stavanger Atlantic Ocean 2009 — Kristiansund Møre og Romsdal Averøy and Kristiansund FinnøyLength is for the main tunnel from Hanasand to Ladstein. The branch to Talgje is long. 2009 519 Finnøy Fixed Link Finnøy and Talgje Rogaland Stavanger Hitra 1994 714 Hitra–Frøya Fixed Link Hitra Trøndelag Hitra Hundvåg* 2019 Ryfylke Fixed Link Hundvåg and Ryfylke Rogaland Stavanger Knappe* 2010 557 Ring Road West — Vestland Bergen Frøya 2000 714 Hitra–Frøya Fixed Link Frøya Trøndelag Frøya and Hitra Freifjord 1992 Kristiansund Fixed Link Kristiansund Møre og Romsdal Gjemnes and Kristiansund Mastrafjord 1992 Rennesøy Fixed Link Rennesøy Rogaland Stavanger Valderøy 1992 658 Vigra Fixed Link Valderøya and Vigra Møre og Romsdal Giske and Ålesund Halsnøy 2008 544 — Halsnøya Vestland Kvinnherad Godøy 1989 658 Vigra Fixed Link Godøy Møre og Romsdal Giske Hvaler 1989 108 — Hvaler Hvaler Ellingsøy 1987 658 Vigra Fixed Link Ellingsøy Møre og Romsdal Giske Tromsøysund* 1994 — Tromsøya Troms Tromsø Ibestad 2000 848 — Rolla Troms Ibestad Sløverfjord 1997 Lofoten Fixed Link Lofoten Nordland Hadsel Bjarkøy 2018 867 Bjarkøy Fixed Link Bjarkøya Troms Harstad Vardø 1983 — Vardøya Finnmark Vardø Fannefjord 1991 Skåla Fixed Link Skålahalvøya Møre og Romsdal Molde Rya 2011 858 — Malangshalvøya Troms Tromsø Flekkerøy 1989 457 — Flekkerøy Agder Kristiansand Melkøysund 2003 Private — Melkøya Finnmark Hammerfest Maursund 1991 866 — Kågen Troms Nordreisa and Skjervøy Bjorøy 1996 FV 207 — Bjorøy Vestland Bergen and Øygarden Skatestraum 2002 616 Bremanger Fixed Link Bremangerlandet Vestland Bremanger Kvalsund 1988 863 — Rinvassøya Troms Tromsø Bjørvika* 2010 Oslo Package 1 — Oslo Oslo Skansen 2010 706 Nordre avlastningsvei — Trøndelag Trondheim
Under construction The following tunnels are under construction, but are not yet completed or taken into use.
Name Length(m) Length(ft) Depth(m) Depth(ft) Opening Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s) Rogfast* 2033 Rogaland Fixed Link Kvitsøy and Haugaland Rogaland Bokn, Kvitsøy, and Randaberg
Proposed The following includes tunnels which have been proposed and which are either being planned by the Norwegian Public Road Administration, or are in the National Transport Plan 2010–2019. Projects which have been abandoned or have not been subject to public investigations are not included. Several of the most trafficked ferry sections are not currently proposed, as the fjords are too deep to have a tunnel with current technology. As of 2011, there are 160 ferry crossings in the country, the majority of which could potentially be replaced by fixed links. For the authorities, the decision to build new tunnels depends on the length, possibility of building a bridge, depth of the sound or fjord and population in the affected areas. While the first tunnels were mostly part of fixed links to connect island and sealocked communities to the mainland, focus has recently shifted more towards replacing ferries on main roads connecting regions, in particular European Route E39, which runs along the west coast. Name Length(m) Length(ft) Depth(m) Depth(ft) Road Project Fixed link for County(s) Municipality(s) Ref(s) Langfjord — Romsdal and Sekken Møre og Romsdal Molde and Rauma Sotra* 555 — Sotra and Øygarden Vestland Bergen and Øygarden Tautra* Møre Fixed Link Otrøya Møre og Romsdal Molde and Vestnes Storfjord — — — — 60 — Sykkylven and Stranda Møre og Romsdal and Sykkylven Trondheimsfjord 15—36 km — 540 — 715 — Fosen Trøndelag Indre Fosen and Trondheim Trondheimsfjord 6—16 km — 400 — 710/718 Road/Electricity Fosen Trøndelag Orkland and Ørland Moss–Horten 82 — — Vestfold and Horten and Moss Langsund 863 — Reinøya Troms Karlsøy
References
See also List of tunnels in Norway