Hvalfjörður Tunnel

Hvalfjörður Tunnel (Hvalfjarðargöng in Icelandic) is a road tunnel under the Hvalfjörður fjord in Iceland and a part of the Route 1 (Iceland's ring road). It is 5,762m long and reaches depth of 165m below sea level. Opened on 11 July 1998, it shortens the distance from Reykjavík to the western and northern parts of the island by 45 km. Passing the fjord now takes 7 minutes instead of about an hour before.

Safety issues

The Hvalfjörður Tunnel received a bad rating in the 2010 European tunnel test, which is carried out annually by the German automobile club ADAC. Different aspects were criticized and are also mentioned in the EuroTAP test (see external links), especially the weak lighting, absence of an automatic fire alarm system, too weak ventilation in case of a fire and a far distance to the next fire station (28 km).

Several improvements are announced for the next years.

Images

Outside the tunnel.

Middle of the Hvalfjörður tunnel.

Exit of the tunnel.

External links

• 2010 test results of Hvalfjörður Tunnel by EuroTAP (European Tunnel Assessment Programme)

See also

• Tunnels in Iceland