NORWAY E39

Highway E39 in Norway is one

of the most beautiful drives in
the world, hugging the

SOEGNFJORDA
FEASIBILITY

FLOATING
E39 HIHWAY country's rugged west coast
ESTIMATION

TNNEL
from Kristiansand to
Trondheim.
N
It is 684 miles of unending
scenery, including rivers and
lakes, waterfalls and
mountains and numerous
fjords.
 But if you look carefully at a
road map, E39 is something of
a dotted line. Each of the

SOEGNFJORDA
FEASIBILITY
E39 HIHWAY

FLOATING
breaks occurs at seven fjords --
ESTIMATION

where drivers must put their

N cars on a ferry to get across.
Currently, this drive takes
21 hours and requires seven
ferry crossings.
 "Ferry-free E39"
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) has
proposed the world’s first underwater floating tunnel
 What would it look like?
 Two 1,220m-long concrete tubes
 Submerged 20m below the surface of the Norwegian Sea.
The tunnels would enter the bedrock beneath
the fjord on each side.
Supported by
 floating pontoons on the surface of the sea
 cables attached to the sea floor
There would be wide gaps between the pontoons
to allow ferries to pass through.
 It might still be an idea,
but what an idea it is
concrete tubes submerged in the waters of a fjord with
vehicles travelling inside it from one shore to another
 “Feasibility study”
 Laying the tube, called a Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT), across the fjord
would be quite an undertaking because

 Anchored at either shore

 Kept 20 metres under the surface of the water and

 Supported by pontoons

 The two central pontoons would have to be 400 metres apart from each
other to allow for their passage.

 The feasibility study actually envisions the laying of two parallel tubes
stretching for 3.7 kilometres with the support of 16 pontoons.

 Each tube - would have two lanes: one for traffic and the other for
maintenance and emergencies.
 The structure is designed to withstand all functional and environmental loads
with ample margins.

Wind, waves and currents have hardly any influence there

(Arianna Minoretti, a chief engineer at NPRA)

She said 50 international experts are doing detailed simulations and detailed
measurements of wind speed, current, undersea landslides, bedrock geology,
etc." to make sure the plans, as well as the tunnel, is rooted in "the real-world
environment."
 ESTIMATION

 The construction of these tubes would require

 400,000 cubic metres of concrete
 61,000 of steel.

 According to the study,

 it would take between 7and 9 years
 At a cost of $25 billion.
COST EVALUATION

CO2
EMMISIONS
RESULTS
Pay Back Period:

COST EVALUATION

METHODOLOG
INTRODUCTIO
Total Cost = 438,000

EMMISIONS
RESULTS
Savings per year = 630×145= 91,350
Payback Period = Total Cost / Savings per year

CO2

Y
= 438,000/ 91,350
=4.8 years
Pay Back Period:

COST EVALUATION

METHODOLOG
INTRODUCTIO
Total Cost = 438,000

EMMISIONS
RESULTS
Savings per year = 630×145= 91,350
Payback Period = Total Cost / Savings per year

CO2

Y
= 438,000/ 91,350
=4.8 years