Faroe Islands roads

[Peter350]

The existing threads on this topic are ancient, but I thought I’d bring to your attention a major project under construction to tunnel between the main islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy. The northern end even has two branches, connected to the mainline by an undersea roundabout. A drive-through of the project can be found on the link below:

https://www.estunlar.fo/en/about-the-tu ... oy-tunnel/

Overall this looks super impressive. With a population of just 50,000, the Faroese are really putting the UK to shame when it comes to getting on with significant infrastructure projects.

[Chris Bertram]

The existing threads on this topic are ancient, but I thought I’d bring to your attention a major project under construction to tunnel between the main islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy. The northern end even has two branches, connected to the mainline by an undersea roundabout. A drive-through of the project can be found on the link below:

https://www.estunlar.fo/en/about-the-tu ... oy-tunnel/

Overall this looks super impressive. With a population of just 50,000, the Danes are really putting the UK to shame when it comes to getting on with significant infrastructure projects.

Don't call them Danes!!!!!! While they're part of the Kingdom of Denmark, they assert their Faroese identity very strongly, they are self-governing in most respects, and there is an independence movement as well.

Sub-sea tunnels are not new there; there is one connecting Streymoy with Vágar, where the airport is, and another linking Eysturoy with Borðoy, and hence linking Klaksvík, the second biggest town, with Tórshavn by road. Streymoy and Eysturoy are already connected by bridge, but this new tunnel will shorten journeys to and from Tórshavn for the south of Eysturoy.

The site also mentions a tunnel to connect Sandoy with Streymoy, due to complete 2023. Sandoy has a small population, but this may help develop the island. When completed, that would mean that all the islands are connected by road except for Nólsoy, across the fjord from Tórshavn, population about 250, Mykines in the far north west, with a permanent resident population of about a dozen, Stóra Dímun, Lítla Dímun, both small islands to the south of Sandoy and with the latter uninhabited, and Suðuroy, the most southerly island. Connecting that one would be another order of magnitude more ambitious still.

[Peter350]

The existing threads on this topic are ancient, but I thought I’d bring to your attention a major project under construction to tunnel between the main islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy. The northern end even has two branches, connected to the mainline by an undersea roundabout. A drive-through of the project can be found on the link below:

https://www.estunlar.fo/en/about-the-tu ... oy-tunnel/

Overall this looks super impressive. With a population of just 50,000, the Danes are really putting the UK to shame when it comes to getting on with significant infrastructure projects.

Don't call them Danes!!!!!! While they're part of the Kingdom of Denmark, they assert their Faroese identity very strongly, they are self-governing in most respects, and there is an independence movement as well.

Ahh sorry I didn’t realise. Have edited the post to reflect this.

The site also mentions a tunnel to connect Sandoy with Streymoy, due to complete 2023. Sandoy has a small population, but this may help develop the island. When completed, that would mean that all the islands are connected by road except for Nólsoy, across the fjord from Tórshavn, population about 250, Mykines in the far north west, with a permanent resident population of about a dozen, Stóra Dímun, Lítla Dímun, both small islands to the south of Sandoy and with the latter uninhabited, and Suðuroy, the most southerly island. Connecting that one would be another order of magnitude more ambitious still.

Looking at a map, you could probably carve a route between Sandoy and Suoroy if you take in Skuvoy, Stora Dimun and Litla Dimun along the way, so each tunnel would be around five miles in length. Whether such a project would be feasible in a sparsely populated region is another matter!

[frediculous_biggs]

The northern end even has two branches, connected to the mainline by an undersea roundabout

Wow, an undersea roundabout - can't be many of them!

[Big Nick]

This underwater roundabout looks simply gorgeous!

https://nordfra.dk/faroe-island-first-r ... tic-ocean/

[ravenbluemoon]

Looking at a map, you could probably carve a route between Sandoy and Suoroy if you take in Skuvoy, Stora Dimun and Litla Dimun along the way, so each tunnel would be around five miles in length. Whether such a project would be feasible in a sparsely populated region is another matter!

I read somewhere that one of the next priorities was to replace some of the 60s and 70s vintage single track tunnels, some of them look pretty dodgy compared to modern tunnels like the amazing Eysturoy example. This one on Suðuroy is very typical of tunnels in the more remote areas, and can cause delays due to effectively having to drive through in convoy.

[James]

Some more pics on the BBC here https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55195390
Looks amazing

[Herned]

I would love to know how they can build a tunnel for ~£10m per km, and can they come here and show us!

[FosseWay]

I would love to know how they can build a tunnel for ~£10m per km, and can they come here and show us!

I suspect a major part of the difference is the traffic levels and therefore the specification of the roads. When the UK considers tunnels (or long bridges), it's on heavily trafficked corridors that merit motorways or HQDCs - places like the Severn, Humber, Forth and Tay estuaries, the Dartford crossing, the A303 under Stonehenge etc., even a fixed link to the Isle of Wight would be heavily used. The Faroese are building S2s in tunnels with S2-like dimensions, not ones capable of taking a motorway.

A more interesting issue, to my mind, is the difference in prioritisation between the Faroes and the Shetlands and Orkneys, which have similar general circumstances. The Faroese clearly attach more importance to linking their islands together than the Northern Isles do; the question is therefore what the Faroese go without in terms of state services that the Orkney and Shetland islanders get instead.

[Herned]

I suspect a major part of the difference is the traffic levels and therefore the specification of the roads.

Yes of course, I was thinking more of comparable places, like the A82 along Loch Lomond where a similar length tunnel was estimated at £4bn

[FosseWay]

I suspect a major part of the difference is the traffic levels and therefore the specification of the roads.

Yes of course, I was thinking more of comparable places, like the A82 along Loch Lomond where a similar length tunnel was estimated at £4bn

Even the A82 I'd imagine has more traffic than anywhere in the Faroes.

Also, the geology plays a role. IIRC the Faroes, like the Shetlands and the west coast of Sweden, are solid granite. It takes considerable mechanical or explosive effort to make a hole in it, but there are few stability or leakage issues.

[jackal]

I would love to know how they can build a tunnel for ~£10m per km, and can they come here and show us!

I suspect a major part of the difference is the traffic levels and therefore the specification of the roads. When the UK considers tunnels (or long bridges), it's on heavily trafficked corridors that merit motorways or HQDCs - places like the Severn, Humber, Forth and Tay estuaries, the Dartford crossing, the A303 under Stonehenge etc., even a fixed link to the Isle of Wight would be heavily used. The Faroese are building S2s in tunnels with S2-like dimensions, not ones capable of taking a motorway.

Even so an S2 tunnel would cost north of £100m per km in the UK.

[fras]

Obviously there's no Green Blob there to prevent progress !! Puts the A303 Stonehenge affair in perspective. though.

[Chris Bertram]

Obviously there's no Green Blob there to prevent progress !! Puts the A303 Stonehenge affair in perspective. though.

Having to fly to get there to protest makes the green blob's brains explode.

[FosseWay]

Obviously there's no Green Blob there to prevent progress !! Puts the A303 Stonehenge affair in perspective. though.

Having to fly to get there to protest makes the green blob's brains explode.

You don't *have* to fly, of course. Leaving aside covid, I could get to the Faroes from here by driving about 70 km (20 here and 50 in Denmark), via the Göteborg-Frederikshavn ferry, to Hirtshals and getting the Iceland ferry, which calls at Tórshavn. But yes, the energy barrier is considerably higher, especially if you're not already in Scandinavia. It's unfortunate that that ferry no longer calls at Thurso and Lerwick. Possibly the service will be resurrected in the context of people actively choosing to avoid flying for both environmental and disease reasons.

[fras]

Back in the early 60s, my paternal grandparents did the Fred Olsen Lines trip up the Norwegian coast starting at Bergen, I think. They lived in London, so to get there, they took a special train to Tyne Dock for a ferry across the North Sea to Bergen. No flights in those days, it was all train and ship ! Nowadays, you'd fly straight from London Airport to Bergen.

[Chris Bertram]

Obviously there's no Green Blob there to prevent progress !! Puts the A303 Stonehenge affair in perspective. though.

Having to fly to get there to protest makes the green blob's brains explode.

You don't *have* to fly, of course. Leaving aside covid, I could get to the Faroes from here by driving about 70 km (20 here and 50 in Denmark), via the Göteborg-Frederikshavn ferry, to Hirtshals and getting the Iceland ferry, which calls at Tórshavn. But yes, the energy barrier is considerably higher, especially if you're not already in Scandinavia. It's unfortunate that that ferry no longer calls at Thurso and Lerwick. Possibly the service will be resurrected in the context of people actively choosing to avoid flying for both environmental and disease reasons.

Hmm, is marine travel actually any better from that PoV?

[FosseWay]

Having to fly to get there to protest makes the green blob's brains explode.

You don't *have* to fly, of course. Leaving aside covid, I could get to the Faroes from here by driving about 70 km (20 here and 50 in Denmark), via the Göteborg-Frederikshavn ferry, to Hirtshals and getting the Iceland ferry, which calls at Tórshavn. But yes, the energy barrier is considerably higher, especially if you're not already in Scandinavia. It's unfortunate that that ferry no longer calls at Thurso and Lerwick. Possibly the service will be resurrected in the context of people actively choosing to avoid flying for both environmental and disease reasons.

Hmm, is marine travel actually any better from that PoV?

Environmental - I don't know. It depends most on the source of the fuel for the ferry, I guess, although part of the problem with flying is *where* the emissions take place, i.e. high in the atmosphere.

Covid-related - if you get a ferry you can sit in isolation in your car while waiting to board, and then either spend the voyage on deck or in your cabin and away from others to a far greater extent than you can manage in an airport or on a plane. But it hardly counts as isolation either way.

[Nathan_A_RF]

Tunnel has now opened! First video

[roadtester]

Tunnel has now opened! First video

Yes - just saw a report on the main German evening news. Looks spectacular!