North Cape Tunnel (Norwegian: Nordkapptunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel under Magerøysundet from the Norwegian mainland to Magerøya. The tunnel was built between 1993 and 1999, is 6,875 metres (22,556 ft) long, and reaches a depth of 212 metres (696 ft) below the sea level. Before the tunnel was built, a ferry carried the traffic across the sea between Kåfjord and Honningsvåg.
The tunnel takes its name from North Cape at the very north of Magerøya island. North Cape Tunnel is part of European route E69. As from 29 June 2012, there is no charge for passing through the tunnel. Before this date there was a toll of 145 NOK per car, plus an additional 47NOK per adult and 24NOK per child, per direction. The tunnel has anti-freezing gates (Norwegian: Kuldeport) which close the mouths of the tunnel in the winter to avoid freezing of leaking water. These gates open automatically when cars approach and are permanently open in the summer, when traffic is denser.
- Location, southern end: 70°53′30″N 25°41′00″E / 70.89167°N 25.6833333°E / 70.89167; 25.6833333
- Location, northern end: 70°57′00″N 25°42′20″E / 70.95°N 25.70556°E / 70.95; 25.70556
Famous quotes containing the words north, cape and/or tunnel:
“I’m trusting in the Lord and a good lawyer.”
—Oliver North (b. 1943)
“A solitary traveler whom we saw perambulating in the distance loomed like a giant. He appeared to walk slouchingly, as if held up from above by straps under his shoulders, as much as supported by the plain below. Men and boys would have appeared alike at a little distance, there being no object by which to measure them. Indeed, to an inlander, the Cape landscape is a constant mirage.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The only way to find out anything about what kinds of lives people led in any given period is to tunnel into their records and to let them speak for themselves.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)