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Norðfjörður Tunnel
Drilled and blasted tunnel between the villages of Eskifjörður and Neskaupstaður on Iceland’s east coast.
Basic information
Project Investor:
Vegagerðin
Project Designer:
Mannvit hf.
Project Duration:
08/2013 – 11/2017
The Project in Numbers
- 7,908 mtunnel length
- 7,566 mlength of drilled and blasted part
- 54.24 m2ordinary tunnel profile
- 443,873 m3volume excavated
- 7,410 mlength of new external roads
- 190,400 mtotal length of bolts used
Characteristics
The Norðfjörður tunnel and the connecting road replaced the old highway 92 between the villages of Eskifjörður and Neskaupstaður on Iceland’s east coast, which was hardly passable in winter. It was made using the drill & blast method and tunnelling from both ends with a gradient of 1.5–3% over most of the length. The tunnel goes through layers of basalt rock alternating with non-cohesive layers of dust sediment with differing thicknesses of 0.5–9 m. The highest rock covering is 950 m. The drilled part of the work is supplemented at both ends by excavated reinforced concrete tunnels with a total length of 342 m.
Exceptional Nature of Project
It is an extraordinary local structure that provides residents of Neskaupstaður on Iceland’s east coast with year-round access and markedly increases road safety. Over the long term, the work reduces unfavourable effects on the environment, because the quantity of fuel that a vehicle needs to overcome the original access route is reduced. Norðfjörður is Iceland’s longest road tunnel and also the longest underground structure Metrostav has built as a part of one project.
