The Atlantic Ocean Tunnel () is an

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry l ...

that is part of

Norwegian County Road 64 County Road 64 () is a two-lane highway which runs between the towns of Kristiansund (town), Kristiansund and Åndalsnes in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It branches from Norwegian National Road 70, National Road 70 in Kristiansund, runs thro ...

which connects

Kristiansund Municipality Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of K ...

Averøy Municipality Averøy is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Nordmøre. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bruhagen. Other villages in the municipality include Bremsnes, Kornstad, Kver ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The eastern end of the tunnel is on

Kirkelandet Kirklandet or Gomalandet is an island in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is split in two by the ''Vågen'' inlet, with the western half called ''Kirklandet'' and the eastern half called ''Gomalandet''. Th ...

island in the town of

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county. The admin ...

and the western end of the tunnel is on the island of

Averøya Averøya is an island in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located north of the Romsdal peninsula surrounded by the Kornstadfjorden on the west and the Kvernesfjorden on the south and east, and the Bremsnesfjorden ...

, just west of the village of Sveggen. The long tunnel runs beneath the Bremsnesfjorden, reaching a depth of , making it one of the deepest undersea tunnels in the world. Construction began in 2006, and the tunnel opened on 19 December 2009, later than initially estimated. Breakthrough was in March 2009. Problems with water leaks caused delays and

cost overrun A cost overrun, also known as a cost increase or budget overrun, involves unexpected incurred costs. When these costs are in excess of budgeted amounts due to a value engineering underestimation of the actual cost during budgeting, they are known ...

s. The name of the tunnel comes from its connection of two islands located at the open

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, and serves as an extension of the Atlantic Ocean Road (), a popular tourist attraction. The road runs over a series of small islands with views of sea, fjord, and mountains, connecting Averøya to the mainland near the town of

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. As of 1 July 2020, the tunnel is no longer a toll tunnel and driving through the tunnel is free for all types of vehicle.

References

External links

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Statens vegvesen: Rv. 64 Atlanterhavstunnelen

Article November 2008Norway's newest undersea road tunnel opens
{{Subsea tunnels in Norway Road tunnels in Møre og Romsdal Subsea tunnels in Norway Averøy Buildings and structures in Kristiansund 2009 establishments in Norway Norwegian County Road 64 Tunnels completed in 2009