Faroe Islands Builds Stunning Underwater Roundabout 72 Meters Below Sea Level
The Faroe Islands are making waves with an extraordinary infrastructure project that merges engineering with art. Located 72 meters below the surface, the gigantic jellyfish-like roundabout not only simplifies transportation but has also transformed into the country's newest tourist attraction.
The 11.2-kilometer Eysturoyartunnil underwater tunnel network, which connects the two largest islands of the Faroe Islands, has completely transformed transportation habits in the region:
The drive time between the capital, Tórshavn, and the country's second most populous island has dramatically dropped from over an hour on mountainous roads to a mere 15 minutes, thanks to the new tunnel.
The journey time between the cities of Tórshavn and Klaksvik has been halved, going from 70 minutes to just 35. Moreover, the distance between the two bays of the Skálafjørður fjord has significantly shrunk from 25 kilometers to a mere 5.
The roundabout located at the heart of the underwater tunnel network offers a visual feast.
The colossal central pillar, formed by the preservation of natural rocks, was illuminated and adorned by the renowned Faroese artist Tróndur Patursson.
The 80-meter steel sculpture that surrounds the pillar depicts figures of people, hand in hand, walking from darkness towards light. Patursson, the artist, states that these sculptures symbolize the Faroese people who can achieve great things by working together.
The tunnel, which reaches a depth of 189 meters below sea level at its lowest point, stands out with its high engineering solutions and driver comfort.
Drivers passing through the tunnel can tune into 97.00 FM radio to listen to music specially composed for this underwater journey by local musicians and sound engineers.
Surface and rainwater are directed to the lowest points of the tunnel by gravity, and then pumped back into the Skálafjørður fjord using massive 16-bar pumps.
Constructed at a cost of approximately 260 million Euros, the Eysturoyartunnil represents the largest single infrastructure investment in the history of the Faroe Islands.
The toll for the tunnel passage is automatically collected via license plate recognition cameras, with costs ranging between 75 and 175 Danish kroner (approximately 1024 Euros) depending on the subscription status. The revenues generated from this are expected to finance future tunnel projects.
In the Faroe Islands, a small archipelago with a population of only 53,000 and consisting of 18 islands, there are currently 20 tunnels. Among the ongoing and planned new projects in the region is the SuðuroySandoy tunnel project, which aims to be the world's longest underwater vehicle tunnel with a length of 2224 kilometers.
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