It may not seem like it to Yanks used to super-sized everything, but Norway is a pretty big country. Driving from the northernmost settlement to the southernmost takes about 30 hours nonstop, a comparable distance to driving from Salt Lake City to Manhattan. It's pretty mountainous too, which can make getting between big cities quite difficult.
Or, rather, it used to be.
In 1995, the Norwegian government broke ground between Oslo and Bergen for its most ambitious project yet. An "isolation nation" no more, Norway was determined to connect the two major cities by any means possible. If that meant tunneling under mountains, then so be it!
The Norwegians are no strangers to traffic tunnels. There are more than 900 scattered throughout the country. Why go over and around mountains when you could simply go under them?
Over, Under, Or Through?
So, Norway tunneled more than 3.3 million cubic yards of rock out of the way to link the municipalities of Laerdal and Aurland. Construction took five years, and the result was a feat of unbelievable engineering. When the Laerdal tunnel opened in 2000, it was officially the longest tunnel in the world.
The tunnel traces a 15.2 mile path across western Norway. Now, 15 miles may not seem like that long of a distance; after all, if you're obeying the 50 mph speed limit, that's less than 20 minutes. However, you have to remember that you're more than 4000 feet under a mountain.
For comparison, the Laerdal tunnel is more than ten times the length of America's longest tunnel, the 2.5m Whittier Tunnel in Alaska. Even if you think you're prepared to drive the Laerdal Tunnel, you probably aren't. Measures were taken to prevent drivers from nodding off or getting claustrophobic during the monotonous drive.
While there are no emergency exits, the tunnel is divided into alcoves approximately every four miles. In comparison with the rest of tunnel, which has white lights to keep drivers awake, the alcoves have blue and yellow lighting to mimic the sunrise. The tunnels are used for rest stops, turnarounds, and even wedding venues!
Safety Measures
Additionally, the lanes are equipped with rumble strips toward the center to prevent drivers from nodding off. Driving through a tunnel can be eerie, especially if you're unsure how much time you have left. Luckily, the Laerdal Tunnel has frequent distance markers posted to inform drivers of how much farther they have to go.
The Laerdal Tunnel is also unique as far as tunnels go. Because it's so long and nobody would want to drive that distance in silence, the entire tunnel is wired for both radio and mobile reception. That way, if anything happens, emergency services won't be far out of reach.
Another issue engineers had in mind during construction was air quality. The Laerdal Tunnel features its own air treatment plant with two fans to remove dust and nitrogen dioxide from passing cars. As if that wasn't enough, fresh air is drawn from the outside and circulated throughout the tunnel.
Even with all this in mind, driving through the tunnel can be unsettling. After all, it's one of the few completely straight roads in the entire country. Spending so much time underground can make the return to the real world jarring, and not just because everything around you is so much bigger.
Emerging from the tunnel feels like entering a different world. Though you've only driven for 20 minutes, it feels like the time underground dilates, stretching out into infinity. It's an experience like no other.
