Ryfast is a subsea tunnel system in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The tunnel system is part of the

Norwegian National Road 13 National Road 13 ( no, Riksvei 13, ) is a national road which runs from the town of Stavanger in Rogaland county to the village of Sogndalsfjøra in Vestland county. The route is long and runs south–north through Rogaland and Vestland coun ...

, and it runs between the city of Stavanger in

Stavanger Municipality Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. Th ...

, under a large fjord, and the area of Solbakk in the municipality of Strand. When the last section was drilled on 26 October 2017, Ryfast became the longest undersea road tunnel in the world, with its length greater than the

Eysturoyartunnilin The Eysturoyartunnilin (in English the Eysturoy Tunnel, earlier known as the Skálafjarðartunnilin) is a large undersea road tunnel under the Tangafjørður sound in the Faroe Islands, connecting the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturoy ...

in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

at , the Tokyo Bay Tunnel in Japan at , and the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel at in China. It is also currently the world's deepest subsea tunnel, reaching a maximum depth of below sea level. The project was approved by the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

on 12 June 2012, and construction began in the spring of 2013. The cost of Ryfast is estimated to (Norwegian krone). The tunnel system replaced the ferry route between

Stavanger Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. T ...

and

Tau Tau (uppercase Τ, lowercase τ, or \boldsymbol\tau; el, ταυ ) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300. The name in English ...

as well as the ferry from Oanes to Lauvik across the

Høgsfjorden Høgsfjorden is a fjord in Rogaland county, Norway. It lies in the municipalities of Stavanger, Sandnes, Strand, and Gjesdal. The innermost part of the fjord is located at the village of Frafjord in the municipality of Gjesdal. It flows west to ...

. A large part of the cost is paid by road tolls. There are as of 2022 separate tolls for the Ryfylke Tunnel and for Hundvåg Tunnel, costing 179 NOK (17,45 euros) for a car without special agreement to pass both as of 2022. The tunnel system consists of two subsea tunnels: *

Ryfylke Tunnel The Ryfylke Tunnel ( no, Ryfylketunnelen) is an undersea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian National Road 13 running between Stavanger and Ryfylke (district) under the Horgefjord (part of the Boknafjord). The ...

, , running from the island of Hundvåg to just south of the village of

in Strand municipality on the other side of the fjord. This tunnel reduced travel time between the Northern

Jæren Jæren is a traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the largest flat lowland a ...

and

Ryfylke Ryfylke is a traditional district in the northeastern part of Rogaland county, Norway. The district is located northeast of the city of Stavanger and east of the city of Haugesund and it encompasses about 60% of the county's area. It includes ...

districts in Rogaland county. **Ryfylke officially opened to traffic at noon on 30 December 2019. * Hundvåg Tunnel, , running from the city of Stavanger to the island of Hundvåg, with a connection to the smaller island of Buøy. This tunnel relieved congestion on the Stavanger City Bridge. **While the first section of Hundvåg was opened for a celebration in December 2019, the official opening for vehicles was delayed to 22 April 2020 due to extra technical testing, which was slowed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. The Ryfast tunnel system was built at the same time as the Eiganes Tunnel, which was constructed from a similar starting point as the Hundvåg, under the city of Stavanger, but stays in (under) the city rather than continuing undersea. The Eiganes tunnel, like the Hundvåg tunnel, opened on 22 April 2020.

References

Subsea tunnels in Norway Road tunnels in Rogaland Norwegian National Road 13 Strand, Norway Transport in Stavanger {{Rogaland-geo-stub