Connected by Tunnels

The first tunnel in the Faeroes opened in 1963. It was cut through a mountain on the southernmost island, Suðuroy, where it connects two villages. The tunneling, which involved extensive digging, drilling, and dynamiting, was done simultaneously from both sides of the mountain.

A tunnel constructed more recently takes traffic some 500 feet [150 m] below the sea and connects two of the larger islands. To excavate it, a 17-foot-long [5 m] drill was used to bore into the rock mass. Then dynamite was placed at the end of the hole and ignited. After the explosion, rocks and boulders were removed, thus clearing a 17-foot-long [5 m] section of the tunnel. This procedure was repeated until the tunnel reached a length of about 3.8 miles [6 km]. It was opened for traffic on April 29, 2006.

The Faeroe Islands now have 18 tunnels, two of which are below the sea and connect islands. No other nation in the world has more miles of tunnels in proportion to its number of inhabitants. Yet, new tunnels are on the drawing board. Parliament has decided to build two more between major islands. One of them, expected to be finished in 2012, will be 7.4 miles [11.9 km] long, making it one of the longest underwater tunnels in the world.

[Picture on page 17]

This tunnel takes traffic some 500 feet below the sea and connects two of the larger islands