World's first tunnel for ships to be built in Norway – video
World's first tunnel for ships to be built in Norway – video
A computer-generated image of a ferry approaching the entrance of a tunnel for ships. Photograph:
Snohetta/Norwegian Coastal Admin/AP
The world’s first tunnel for ships is to be built in Norway. The Stad Ship Tunnel, which is expected to open in 2023, will allow vessels to avoid a treacherous part of sea. Engineers will first have to blast 8m tonnes of rock to build the tunnel which will be able to accommodate cruise and freight ships
Norway plans to build the world’s first tunnel for ships, a 1,700-metre (5,610-ft) passageway burrowed through a piece of rocky peninsula that will allow vessels to avoid a treacherous part of sea.
The Stad Ship Tunnel, which would be able to accommodate cruise and freight ships weighing up to 16,000 tonnes, is expected to open in 2023.
It will be 37 metres high and 26.5m wide, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration, and is estimated to cost at least 2.7bn kroner (£250m).
Norway’s transport minister, Ketil Solvik-Olsen, said that sea currents and underwater topography in the country’s south-western coast “result in particularly complex wave conditions”.
Plans for a ship tunnel in Stad had been floated over the years, but now a project with financing was ready, he said.
“We are pleased that the ship tunnel will now become a reality,” Solvik-Olsen said, adding that travel time between Norwegian cities and towns in the area would be reduced.
The tunnel is expected to be located at the narrowest point of the Stadlandet peninsula, where the weather has for decades been considered an obstacle for shipping.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2017/apr/06/worlds-first-tunnel-ship-built-norway-video
