A new road tunnel currently under construction in the Westfjords, the Bolungarvík tunnel, is nearing completion. The tunnel will be officially taken into use less than three months from now. Construction of the tunnel has been progressing well, although the opening date was originally scheduled for 15th July. It is now clear that the tunnel will not be open to the public before September.

On the tunnel’s website at bb.is, quality control manager for construction company Ósafl, based in the town of Bolungarvík, Níels Reynisson, says the work is going well, “The waterproof sidings and coatings are being worked on, and we have made steady progress in laying the drains.”

Amongst the tasks still to be completed are the tarmacking of the road surface and various other road-related tasks. Tarmacking is expected to start in mid-July, and should be completed sometime in August.

When completed, the tunnel will be 8.7m metres wide and 5.1km long. The planned cost of the tunnel stands at approximately 5 billion krónur. The tunnel will shorten the length of time it takes to travel from Hnífsdalur to Bolungarvík, and will avoid a dangerous drive around the mountain which can be seen at the back of the image above.

Source: mbl.is
Image: Gussi Jons

Labels: Construction, Transport, Westfjords