Salhusfjorden is a long

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

and sound between Bergen Municipality and

Alver Municipality Alver is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Knarvik. Other villages include Alversund, Alver, Isdalstø, Lind� ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, whe ...

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 ...

. To the west, it starts between the villages of Salhus and

Frekhaug Frekhaug is a village in Alver Municipality, located in Vestland county, Norway. The village sits at the southern tip of the island of Holsnøy. Prior to 2020, the village was the administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of re ...

, where the Byfjorden meets the Herdlefjorden. To the east, the fjord ends between the village of Knarvik and the Hordvikneset peninsula, where the

Osterfjorden Osterfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy. The fjord runs along the municipal border of Alver and Osterøy municipalities. The fjord begins at the Romarheimsfjorden ...

runs northeast, the Sørfjorden runs southeast, and the

Radfjorden Radfjorden is a fjord in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the islands of Radøy and Holsnøy. The northwestern end of the fjord is called the ''Mangerfjorden'' and it flows out into the Hjeltefjorden. ...

runs north. The fjord is up to deep. It acts as one of the borders between the districts of Midhordland to the south and

Nordhordland Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway. The district consists of the northern portion of the old Hordaland county (now in Vestland county), north of the city of Bergen. It includes the municipalities Alver, Aust ...

to the north. The islands of

Holsnøy Holsnøy is an island in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies to the north/west of the mainland, between the islands of Radøy to the north and Askøy to the south. The highest point on the island is the tall Elds ...

and

Flatøy Flatøy is an island in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies in the district of Nordhordland, just north of the city of Bergen. The main village on the island is Krossneset on the southern part of the island. The no ...

lie along the northern side of the fjord. Salhusfjorden is crossed by the

Nordhordland Bridge The Nordhordland Bridge ( no, Nordhordlandsbrua) is a combined cable-stayed and pontoon bridge which crosses Salhusfjorden between Klauvaneset (in Bergen Municipality) and the island of Flatøy (in Alver Municipality) in Vestland county, ...

, a combined pontoon and cable stayed

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. Because of the depth, the bridge lacks lateral anchorage. The bridge, which carries

European Route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in ...

, was opened on 22 September 1994. It is the second-longest bridge in Norway. The fjord takes its name from the village area of Salhus, which during the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period The ...

in the early 12th century there was an inn (known at the time as a ''sáluhus''), which would give name to the place. It acted as a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry s ...

for Nordhordland, and was a small market town. It was one of the first industrialized places when a hosiery manufacturer was established here in 1859. Previously, there were two ferry crossings of the Salhusfjorden. Starting on 7 July 1936, a ferry service ran between the villages of

Isdalstø Isdalstø or Isdalsstø is a village in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies along the southern end of the Radfjorden between the villages of Alversund and Knarvik Knarvik (or Knarrviki) is the administrative centre ...

and Steinestø. In 1956, the ferry on the Nordhordland side moved to Knarvik, and it was the most trafficked ferry service in the country before the bridge opened in 1994. At first operated by Fergetrafikk, from 1967 it was run by Bergen Nordhordland Rutelag. Until 1984, there was also a ferry crossing between Salhus and Frekhaug, operated by the same company.Styve (1994): 46

References

{{Authority control Fjords of Vestland Alver (municipality) Geography of Bergen

See also

References