Eysturoyartunnilin
| Eysturoyartunnilin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Eysturoyartunnilin near Hvitanes, during the construction phase
|
|||||
| use | Road tunnel | ||||
| length | 11.238 km | ||||
| vehicles per day | 6000 (estimated) | ||||
| construction | |||||
| building-costs | approx. 350 million euros (for Eysturoyartunnilin and Sandoyartunnilin) | ||||
| start of building | Late 2016 | ||||
| business | |||||
| operator | P / F Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar | ||||
| toll | Yes | ||||
| release | 19th December 2020 | ||||
| location | |||||
|
|||||
| Coordinates | |||||
| Strendur | 62 ° 6 ′ 58 ″ N , 6 ° 45 ′ 10 ″ W. | ||||
| Rókin near Runavík | |||||
| Hvítanes | 62 ° 2 ′ 39 " N , 6 ° 46 ′ 44" W. | ||||
Map with all coordinates: 
The Eysturoyartunnilin ( German Eysturoytunnel , initially designed under the name Skálafjarðartunnilin ) is an undersea tunnel on the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic that was completed in 2020 . With a total length of more than 11 kilometers, it connects the two largest islands of the Faroe Islands , Eysturoy and Streymoy , on the one hand, but also the western and eastern halves of the island of Eysturoy, which is jagged by Skálafjørður , on the other.
The Eysturoyartunnilin was the Faroe Islands' third undersea tunnel, after the Vágatunnilin (2002) and the Norðoyatunnilin (2006). In the year it was opened, the Eysturoyartunnilin was the longest tunnel and the largest structure in the Faroe Islands.
description
One of the special features of the two-lane Y-shaped tunnel system is that it has not just two, but three entrances. On Eysturoy there is a tunnel entrance in Strendur (on the west bank of Skálafjørður) and in Rókin near Runavík (on the east bank of Skálafjørður). The beginning here roads meet in a lake at the roundabout each other. From here the road continues to Hvítanes , not far from the Faroese capital Tórshavn on Streymoy. The tubes connect two regions on Eysturoy with each other and this island in turn with the main island Streymoy.
The stretch from Rókin to the undersea roundabout is 2153 meters long, and that from Strendur to the roundabout is 1625 meters. The longest section from the roundabout to Hvítanes extends over a length of 7460 meters. The underwater gyro - the first of its kind in the world when it opened - is 72.6 meters below sea level . At its deepest point, the Eysturoyartunnilin is 189 meters below the surface of the water. The steepest incline is five percent.
As in the case of the Norðoyatunnilin, the tunnel was equipped with light installations by the Faroese sculptor and glass artist Tróndur Patursson . At the location of the underwater gyro, near the geographical center of the Faroe Islands, he created an 80-meter-long sculpture with light effects. He provided a large natural stone with a steel ring on which people shake hands. The sculpture changes its color continuously and is supposed to remind of the tradition of the Faroese chain dance . Media representatives described the roundabout when it opened as a “huge, glowing deep-sea jellyfish”. A music installation uses a composition by pop musician Jens L. Thomsen.
story
The first plans to build the Eysturoyartunnilin arose during the construction of the first submarine tunnel systems in the Faroe Islands. An initially planned collaboration between the public sector and an international investment company from Denmark came to nothing. When the company's secret agreements with the then Interior Minister Kári P. Højgaard became public, a political crisis arose in the Faroe Islands, which resulted in early elections. After the election, all parties in Løgting were in favor of a purely public solution for the construction of the tunnel. For this purpose, the company P / F Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar was founded in 2014, which is 100 percent owned by the Ministry of Transport. The company was responsible for the conception of the tunnel and is also responsible for its administration and management. The Swedish real estate group NCC was commissioned to build the tunnel in 2016 .
The drilling work began on February 21, 2017, first in Strendur, on April 27, 2017 in Hvítanes. On December 4, 2017, the first section between Strendur and the Unterseekreisel was completed. The last blast took place in June 2019, after which the asphalting and cabling work began. The tunnel was officially opened to traffic on December 19, 2020.
During the planning, the operator assumed a daily traffic volume of approx. 6000 vehicles. The total cost of the Eysturoyartunnilin and the Sandoyartunnilin , which was started at the same time and is due to be completed in 2023, was estimated at 350 million euros. The Faroese government subsidized the company with around 54 million euros. The tunnel is to be refinanced through a toll . A single trip from Streymoy to Eysturoy in 2020 cost the equivalent of a little more than ten euros.
Effects
The travel time between Tórshavn and the towns of Runavík and Strendur has been reduced from 64 to 16 minutes, according to the operator. To Klaksvík - the second largest city in the Faroe Islands - the journey now took 36 instead of 68 minutes. Between Runavík and Strendur, thanks to the roundabout in the tunnel, the distance will be shortened to around a tenth of that of the fjord bypass.
Spectacular images of the colored underwater gyro sparked enthusiastic comments on social media around the world . The director of the Faroese Tourist Association, Guðrið Højgaard, expected the roundabout to provide an additional boost to tourism on the islands, which had already increased significantly in previous years. The underwater gyro was also perceived as a new tourist attraction in the press.
The government in the Faroe Islands anticipated an increase in traffic, greater interaction between the islands of the archipelago and increasing regional integration. House prices on the island of Eysturoy rose by 31 percent from 2019 to 2020 due to the "tunnel effect".
Web links
- Subsea road tunnels in the Faroe Islands , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, NTNU (accessed December 20, 2020; English).
- Website with information about the Faroese submarine tunnels, Tunnil (accessed December 20, 2020; Faroese).
- Website with pictures from the Untersee Kreisel , Guide to Faroe Islands (accessed December 20, 2020; English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Myndir: Leggja seinastu hond á Eysturoyartunnilin , kvf.fo, December 15, 2020.
- ↑ a b Prísir , tunnil.fo, accessed on December 19, 2020.
- ↑ a b An der Qualle right , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 19, 2020.
- ↑ a b Giant underwater 'jellyfish' roundabout becomes latest Faroe Islands tourist attraction , The Guardian, December 8th, 2020.
- ↑ Faroe Islands: The new deep sea tunnel as an art gallery! , LinkedIn, December 9, 2020.
- ↑ Eysturoyartunnilin letur upp , KVF, December 19, 2020.
- ↑ Indberetning no. 4/2015 , Rigsombudsmanden på Færøerne, 13 August 2015.
- ↑ Løgtingslóg no. 30 from April 14, 2014 at stovna partafelag and at byggja and reka undirsjóvartunlar millum Streymoy and Eysturoy and millum Streymoy and Sandoy, sum broytt við løgtingslóg no. 54 frá May 6, 2016 , logir.fo, April 14, 2014.
- ↑ subsea road tunnels in the Faroe Islands , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, NTNU , December 7 2017th
- ↑ Undersjøiske tunneler, Færøyene , NCC (accessed December 20, 2020).
- ↑ Eysturoyartunnilin , estunlar.fo (accessed December 20, 2020).
- ^ Tunnel with underwater roundabout opened on Faroe Islands , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 19, 2000.
- ↑ Færøerne får tourist attraction 187 meters under havet , standby.dk, December 16, 2020.
- ↑ Eysturoyartunnilin gevur hægri sethúsaprísir og størri bústaðarbyrðu , betri.fo, 10 September 2020.