Lærdal Tunnel: Longest tunnel road in the World

In a country full of beautiful lakes, fjords, glaciers and tunnels, Lærdal Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world. It is definitely a civil engineering marvel as well as appealing spot to witness.

NORWAY – Norway is a longest country in Europe. With the distinct weather conditions, country is full of tunnels and roads. You can find various tunnels in an hour drive here.

Famous example of tunnels here, Lærdal Tunnel opened for general public in 2000. In June 1992 the Norwegian Parliament decided to construct the world’s longest road tunnel. The 24.5km (15.2 miles) long stretch of tunnel stretches between Aurland and Laerdal on the new main highway connecting Oslo and Bergen.

Construction was started in 1995 and the longest tunnel cost around 1.082 billion NoK Or 113.1M USD. When it comes to build a tunnel, there is no-one better than Norway. If you look at the construction of this tunnel, four major actions taken place here drilling, blasting, loading and transport and excavating and landscaping.

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A total of 2.5 million cubic meters of rock has removed from the entire tunnel during construction. With the genius minds, they built a well lit and beautiful tunnel in the country that connects two sides. It is no stop, no ferry, free toll for each passenger in the country.

Tunnel has 15 turns for busses and trailers. Since its the longest tunnel, they have placed different colored lights to give the impression of sunlight. In the start they have white lights, after few miles it turns to blue that looks so beautiful and eccentric.

It also has fake mountains and scenic beauty inside. People do wedding shoots and small events here. After that lights turns to Yellow to show sunrise or sunset. It is also a beautiful experience to see. For people who are phobic or dreadful to a long tunnel drive, this technique helps them a lot.

Safety Measures

In the construction of Lærdal Tunnel, they do not forget about safety measures. Telephone booths are placed every 250 meters with a sign of SOS on them. Fire extinguishers are placed every 410 meters. If any fire extinguishers are in use, both sides of tunnel close in an instant.

Signs of tunnel closed sparkling outside the tunnel ends. meanwhile rescue teams are on their go to tackle any situation. Special telephone lines spread allover the tunnel so you can use phone easily. There is no problem of signal inside the tunnel.

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For air ventilation and oxygen balancing, this tunnel has its own air plant inside it. Plant has two functions, purifying air and removing nitrogen oxide from inside. With 24 hours active working, plant keeps tunnel easy to breath for every traveler even for patients as well.

Popularity of Lærdal Tunnel

It is the most used tunnel of the country. On the busy day approximately 400 cars drove this tunnel in an hour. On average 1000 cars use this passage each day. From an environmental perspective, the tunnel is seen as a justifiable investment to avoid destroying sections of the unspoiled natural landscape