| Opening ceremony, February 23, 2008 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Møre og Romsdal, Norway |
| Route | Norwegian National Road 653 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 23 February 2008 |
| Operator | Norwegian Public Roads Administration |
| Traffic | Automotive |
| Character | Passenger |
| Vehicles per day | 1,000 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 7,765 m (25,476 ft) |
| Number of lanes | 3 |
| Lowest elevation | −287 m (−941.6 ft) |
| Width | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Grade | Maximum: 9.6% |
The Eiksund tunnel (Norwegian: Eiksundtunnellen) is an undersea tunnel between the municipalities of Ørsta and Ulstein in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The Eiksund Bridge joins Hareidlandet island and the village of Eiksund with the nearby island Eika. The Eiksund Tunnel begins at the south end of the bridge (on Eika island) and connects it to mainland Norway. The bridge-tunnel complex serves the municipalities of Herøy, Sande, Ulstein, Hareid, Ørsta, and Volda which together have over 40,000 inhabitants.
The tunnel carries three lanes of traffic. The average daily traffic through the Eiksund Tunnel is around 1,000 vehicles, 50% of which are trucks. The total cost of the tunnel was about NOK 500,000,000.
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 opened to traffic on 23 February 2008. 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 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. These three structures are a part of Riksvei 653, a county highway that links Riksvei 61 between Ulstein and Herøy to the E39 highway between Ørsta and Volda.[1]
On 28 June 2009, there was a severe accident in the tunnel, leaving five people dead.[2]
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