Inside Norway’s $47 Billion Floating Highway
The Scandinavian nation of Norway is famed for its encompassing mountains, glaciers, green spaces, and museums, but in 2018, they decided to take a unique turn. The Norwegian government embarked on the largest infrastructure project in entire Europe by building a new coastal highway project that aims to eliminate the needs for ferry serves. Let’s all take a ride inside Norway’s 47 billion-dollar floating highway.
Norway’s western coast is home to some of the most dramatic landscapes you will find anywhere in the world. The glaciers and fjords throughout the coastal strip meant the travel route through and around this terrain will take any traveler at least 1,000km, a journey that takes up about 21 hours. This misery prompted the Norwegian government to work towards improving access to services, residential, and labor markets across the countries western regions by investing in the largest infrastructure project in the country’s history. Named E39 Highway Project, the multi-billion-dollar transport channel appears to be the only solution to Norway’s topographical wonders that has, over the years, created difficult challenges when it comes to connecting the cities with roads.
Being an environmental-conscious country, the government sought solutions that would help both its traffic and preserve its pristine fjords. From the plan, combining underground and underwater traffic with already existing infrastructure appeared like some abstract art, but they were able to execute it. By the end of the project, not only will 47 billion dollars be spent, the resultant project will be able to connect the capital Oslo in the southeast to the coastal cities of Bergen, Stavanger, Aalesund, and Trondheim, in the process, replacing numerous ferries with tunnels and bridges. But because of the landscape, architects and civil engineers have been forced to develop new and inventive ideas to complete the route.
If completed, the project would contain a number of record-breaking engineering marvels. The suspension bridge at Sognefjord, for example, is expected to have 1,500-foot high towers, and its 12,100-foot-long span would dwarf the likes of Japan’s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. So huge will the Sognefjord bride be that it would be three times that of the Golden State, the towers will each be 492 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower, thus becoming the tallest and the longest bridge in the world.
The second proposal will be the first of its kind in the world; a submerged tunnel tethered not to the seabed below, but above to floating pontoons. While many other underwater tunnels already connect vast waterways, like one at the Chesapeake Bay, from Danish Capital, Copenhagen to the Swedish city of Malmo, and another from Hong Kong to Macau, this would will the epitome of creativity and architectural and civil designs.
By the end of the project, vehicles will be able to make an uninterrupted drive from Trondheim, at the top of Norway, all the way down to the western coast of Kristiansand, and even stretch further to Oslo, on the southeastern part of the country. This massive stretch will, however, have options to stop at all major coastal cities on the way. The projected project for the next 30 years will lift experience straight out of a sci-fi movie. Rogfast is the first in a series of crossings that will link the E39, connecting Stavanger and Haugesund, via a 27 km, 16 miles undersea tunnel. It will, therefore, become the longest undersea tunnel in the world. This structure will reach insane depths of up to 390 meters below sea level, making it the deepest as well as the longest undersea road tunnel in the world.
The Rogfast Project will consist of two tunnels connected every 250 meters, fully fitted with an emergency exists. Each tunnel will have a layby at 500-meter intervals, along with telephone and surveillance cameras on the route. All these are included as safety measures. The tunnel will also feature a mid-route intersection with the island municipality of Kvitsoy, creating an undersea tunnel junction and connecting the island with the Norwegian mainland.
To cross the challenging stretch of waters, a proposal has been put forward for a floating bridge, anchored to the shore at both ends. The first traditional suspension bridge will span 3,700 meters long, a structure that will double the length of the length of world’s current longest bridge. It will require support towers of at least 450 meters tall, significantly eclipsing the 343-meter-tall Millau Viaduct in France to become the world’s longest bridge structure.
A project of this magnitude is going not only to make a massive mark on Norway’s majestic landscape and open up transportation lines for the residents, but it will also open up the country to the rest of the world as well. The coastal highway route project collaborates with three of the largest research universities in the Nordic region—the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, The University of Stavanger, and Chalmers University of Technology. The research is made up of the best brains around Europe, including 50-PhD candidates working on solving different engineering challenges related to the E-39 Project.
Statistically, about a third of the country’s population lives along Norway’s western coast. The development of this monolithic continuous highway will connect the entire west coast of Norway and is predicted to benefit the country both socially and economically. The project’s primary goal is to reduce travel time by more than half. Norway’s western coast generates about 60% of the country’s export value; this monumental project will ensure trade if fully harnessed.
For such a huge project, the downside still remains practicing safe, eco-friendly, and sustainable building methods. There are also concerns for ships accidentally colliding into the underwater bridges. Project managers have to note many of the fjords in the path of the project are crossings for large ships as well. Therefore, the bridges must be tall enough to allow for the massive flow of shipping traffic seen at such fjords. Large ships can damage a bridge beyond repair if a collision takes place, and in some instances, they even cause collapses. Other safety concerns for the project team include making sure the number of traffic fatalities or incidences is no higher than the Norway national average, which by the way, is relatively low. There is also the risk of tunnel fires, which would be a nightmare in some of the longer tunnels in the project.
As Norway continues to embark on the largest infrastructure project in the country’s history, the rest of the world cannot help but be marveled by the audacity of a country with a population of slightly above 5 million people. When the project is done and dusted, we will be all ready to give them a round of applause.