Ryfast is a subsea tunnel system in Rogaland county, Norway.[1] The tunnel system is part of the Norwegian National Road 13, and it runs between the city of Stavanger in Stavanger Municipality, under a large fjord, and the area of Solbakk in the municipality of Strand.[2]
When the last section was drilled on 26 October 2017, Ryfast became the longest undersea road tunnel in the world, with its 14.3-kilometre (8.9 mi) length greater than the Eysturoyartunnilin in the Faroe Islands at 11.2 kilometres (7.0 mi), the Tokyo Bay Tunnel in Japan at 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi), and the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel at nine kilometres (5.6 mi) in China.[3] It is also currently the world's deepest subsea tunnel, reaching a maximum depth of 292 metres (958 ft) below sea level.[4][5]
The project was approved by the Norwegian Parliament on 12 June 2012, and construction began in the spring of 2013. The cost of Ryfast is estimated to 5.22 billion kr (Norwegian krone).[6] The tunnel system replaced the ferry route between Stavanger and Tau. A large part of the cost is paid by road tolls. There are as of 2022 separate tolls for the Ryfylke Tunnel and for Hundvåg Tunnel, costing 179 NOK (17,45 euros) for a car without special agreement to pass both as of 2022.
The tunnel system consists of two subsea tunnels:
The Ryfast tunnel system was built at the same time as the 3,700-metre (12,100 ft) Eiganes Tunnel, which was constructed from a similar starting point as the Hundvåg, under the city of Stavanger, but stays in (under) the city rather than continuing undersea.[6] The Eiganes tunnel, like the Hundvåg tunnel, opened on 22 April 2020.[5][8]