Which is the longest road tunnel in the world?

Posted by Keshav Jain on

The longest road tunnel in the world, the Laerdal Tunnel is situated in Norway. With a road length of 24.51-kilometres the tunnel connects Laerdal and Aurland, two municipalities in the country. The tunnel also provides a ferry-free connection between Oslo and Bergen.

The construction of this tunnel started in 1995 and it was opened in 2000. It cost a total of 1.082 billion Norwegian krone. A great deal of investment was made for ensuring the safety of the passengers. This is the first tunnel in the world to be equipped with an air treatment plant.

Picture Credit : Google

Why is the Seikan Tunnel known as the longest undersea tunnel?

Posted by Keshav Jain on

The Seikan Tunel in Japan is the world's longest undersea tunnel, in terms of overall length. Although the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France, is shorter, it has a longer undersea segment. Seikan is also the second-deepest transport tunnel that is located below the sea level- the deepest one being the Ryfylke Tunnel, which is a road tunnel in Norway that was opened in 2019.

The Seikan Tunnel is 53.85 kilometres long and is a dual-gauge railway tunnel. It has a 23.3 kilometres segment under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait (which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern island of Hokkaido). The track level of this tunnel is about 100 metres below the sea-bed and 240 metres below sea level.

Seikan Tunnel is also the second longest main-line railway tunnel- the longest one being the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, which was opened in 2016.

Picture Credit : Google