Norway is preparing to take on a major transportation project that’s set to be a world first. The Stad Ship Tunnel, a 5,610-foot passageway to be cut into a rocky peninsula, would permit the passage of huge seafaring vessels.
Though it has been in the planning stages as early as the 1870s–with a pilot project developed in 1985–financing was just recently secured and the long-awaited Stad Ship Tunnel is in the works to become a reality.
Image Source: CNBC
Accommodating Massive Ships For Safe Passage
To be located at a narrow point in the Stadlandet peninsula of Seije municipality, sitting between the Norwegian and North Seas, the Stad Ship Tunnel would allow for safer travel of cruise, freight, and other ships weighing up to 16,000 tons. The tunnel would help ships avoid some seriously difficult travel conditions.
With stormy days happening more than a quarter of the year, winds reaching record speeds, and the region’s underwater topography and sea currents, the area is historically unkind to sea passage.
Treacherous travel also results from complex wave conditions that occur because of submerged coastal features. The Stad Ship Tunnel would allow ships to bypass this tricky section of sea and speed up an otherwise slow, sometimes precarious journey.
Image Source: Wikimedia
A Major Transportation Project
The tunnel will reach 121-feet (37-meters) into the height of the rock with an 86.6-foot (26.4-meter) wide clearance. This will require an estimated 8 tons of rock to be blasted clear from the peninsula.
The cost of the project is currently estimated at $315 million. At these dimensions, the Stand Ship Tunnel could easily accommodate cruise liners, ferries, and massive shipping vessels, and would be the first of its kind for the world.
Construction is expected to begin in 2019, setting the tunnel to be open for passage in 2023.
What are your thoughts on this impressive transportation project for Norway?
Article Sources
http://www.cnbc.com
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https://www.theguardian.com
https://en.wikipedia.org
