Harman Patil (Editor)

North Cape Tunnel

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Location
  
Finnmark, Norway

Start
  
Porsanger Peninsula

Work begun
  
1993

Lowest elevation
  
-212 m

Road
  
European route E69

Status
  
In operation

End
  
Magerøya

Opened
  
15 June 1999

Length
  
6,875 m

North Cape Tunnel httpsiytimgcomviZQltA4MTrTImaxresdefaultjpg

North Cape Tunnel (Norwegian: Nordkapptunnelen) is one of the longest subsea road tunnels in Norway. It is located in Nordkapp Municipality in Finnmark county in the far northern part of Norway. The tunnel goes under the Magerøysundet strait between the Norwegian mainland to the large island of Magerøya. The tunnel was built between 1993 and 1999, along with the Honningsvåg Tunnel to connect the mainland to the town of Honningsvåg and to the tourist attraction at North Cape. The tunnel was officially opened on 15 June 1999 by king Harald V of Norway. The tunnel is 6.875 kilometres (4.272 mi) long and reaches a depth of 212 metres (696 ft) below the sea level. Before the tunnel was built, a ferry carried the traffic across the sea between Kåfjord and Honningsvåg.

Map of Nordkapptunnelen, 9750, Norway

The tunnel takes its name from the North Cape on the northern shore of Magerøya island. North Cape Tunnel is part of the European route E69 highway. Since 29 June 2012, there is no longer a toll for passing through the tunnel. Before this date there was a toll of 145 kr per car, plus an additional 47 kr per adult and 24 kr per child, in each direction.

The tunnel has anti-freezing gates (Norwegian: Kuldeport) which close the mouths of the tunnel in the winter to avoid the freezing of any leaking water. These gates open automatically when cars approach and are permanently open in the summer, when traffic is denser.

References

North Cape Tunnel Wikipedia