NPRANorway’s fjords are stunningly beautiful coastal inlets that decorate the west of the country – but they cause serious issues for the locals.
There are over a thousand fjords and they make driving around Norway a proper ballache apparently.
NPRABecause even though places are pretty close together – as the crow flies – you can’t drive in a straight line between them thanks to all the damn fjords everywhere.
At the moment they have to use ferries and very windy roads to get from place to place.
NPRAHowever, Wired has reported that the Norwegian roads agency has come up with a smart solution to the problem – with minimal interruption of the fjords’ distinctive natural beauty.
The proposed £19.5 billion ($25 billion) infrastructure project would install permanent crossings using a submerged floating bridge – or ‘underwater tunnel’.
NPRABy putting the tunnel underwater they’re less of an eyesore than a bridge or pontoon and boats can safely sail over them.
Some of the fjords are so wide and deep that it would be impossible to bridge them or tunnel in the earth beneath them, so these floating tunnels are an elegant and (relatively) cost-effictive design solution.
NPRAThe Norwegian transport authority believe they could cut the time required to travel down the west cost of Norway in half.
Which could have a huge impact for people living there without negatively impacting the tourism that is a big part of the economy.
NPRAIf the plans are approved we could be driving under and inside the fjords of Norway by 2035.
