The longest tunnel in the world

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At school we always learned that everything is big in USA, which I have discovered on my many visits in your country. Norway is a small country but speaking of cars and roads we in fact have the longest road tunnel in the world!

The tunnel is 25 kilometer (15.7 mile) long and is a part of the European Road System (E-16). E-16 is going from Oslo on the east side of Norway to Bergen on the west side – facing the Atlantic Ocean.

The design of the tunnel takes into consideration the mental strain on drivers, so the tunnel is divided into four sections, separated by three large mountain caves at 6-kilometre (3.7 mile) intervals. While the main tunnel has white lights, the caves have blue lighting with yellow lights at the fringes to give an impression of sunrise. The caves are meant to break the routine, providing a refreshing view and allowing drivers to take a short rest. The caverns are also used as turn around points and for break areas to help lift claustrophobia during a 20-minute drive through the tunnel. To keep drivers from being inattentive or falling asleep, each lane is supplied with a loud rumble strip toward the center.

On the picture you can see my Pierce parked in one of the caves. Not because of strain but more to take the opportunity to shoot this photo. It was of course very special to drive with an 80 years old car through the tunnel. On the other side, Pierce-Arrow is a strong and fast runner!

Before the tunnel was built we had to use a ferry on the fjords – a tour of more than 3 hours. We love to drive on roads west of Norway where we find the fjords, the mountains and the narrow, curved, steep and old fashion roads. But also many tunnels.

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Great picture of your Pierce in one of the caves.

Twenty minutes is a long time to be driving underground.

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