Norway drops planned fixed link between Moss and Horten

Norway’s Road Administration has stopped investigations into a proposed bridge or tunnel spanning 10.5km of the Oslofjord between Moss and Horten, according to Norwegian media. The Ministry of Transport has ordered Veivesendet to cancel consultations amid the government’s growing concern over the cost of any fixed link across the narrows, around 65km south of the capital Oslo. The half-hour car-ferry crossing as part of National Highway 19 will continue as usual. Several thousand people and vehicles m
October 25, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Detour: Norway cancels a crossing of the Oslofjord, the country’s busiest shipping route and most populated areas.
Norway’s Road Administration has stopped investigations into a proposed bridge or tunnel spanning 10.5km of the Oslofjord between Moss and Horten, according to Norwegian media.


The Ministry of Transport has ordered Veivesendet to cancel consultations amid the government’s growing concern over the cost of any fixed link across the narrows, around 65km south of the capital Oslo.

The half-hour car-ferry crossing as part of National Highway 19 will continue as usual. Several thousand people and vehicles make the journey daily, newspapers reported.

The tolled Moss-Horten Tunnel was to be 17km long and 325m below sea level. It was also to meet 1116 European Union requirements of a maximum 6% gradient.

There is already a road tunnel across the fjord, at Dobrak, a small town of around 14,000 and about 40km south of Oslo. The three-lane 7.3km Oslofjord Tunnel, part of National Highway 23, was opened in 2000. The third lane is used as a climbing lane – for traffic heading uphill and overcoming the 7% gradient. The 11.5m-wide tunnel can handle around 7,500 vehicles daily with a speed limit of 70kph, enforced by speed cameras.

The Oslofjord Tunnel was shut down for three weeks in May last year for major repairs after an extensive truck fire. There were no injuries but around 300m of the tunnel needed repairs.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Oslofjord Tunnel closed for repairs for up to three weeks
    May 12, 2017
    The 7km subsea Oslofjord Tunnel in Norway will be closed for up to three weeks after a truck caught fire in the tunnel on May 5. Norwegian media report that a 500m stretch was damaged - tunnel vault, cables, insulation and road surface. The tunnel is equipped with 25 evacuation rooms that can be sealed off from the main tunnel. Each room can provide pressurised space for up to 50 people while a fire is being fought. However, the latest incident has spurred the government to announce that a second tube will
    Read More
  • Norway moves toward more E39 coastal road improvements
    April 4, 2019
    Norway is working on plans to make more of the major north-south E39 coastal route a ferry-free highway, coasting €35.3 billion, according to media. In Norway, the trans-European route 39 is part national road system and is developed and maintained by the public roads administration. It runs for 1,330km along the coast from Klett just south of Trondheim to Nørresundby. Norway’s E39 is mostly a two-lane undivided road with only relatively short sections near Stavanger, Trondheim and Bergen being motorw
    Read More
  • Oslo Fjord Link a priority for 2024
    October 20, 2023
    The new tunnel will run parallel with the existing 7.3km-long structure which connects Hurum and Frogn near the Norwegian capital Oslo.
    Read More
  • Norway drops tender plans for second Sotra fixed link
    February 18, 2019
    Statens Vegvesen, the Norwegian Road Administration, has cancelled tender plans for a new Sotra fixed link project that were scheduled for the spring. Jon Georg Dale, minister of transport, recently told the Norwegian Parliament that the geology near Lake Storavatnet along the route of the project, of which the second bridge would be a part, has caused concern among planners. Also, reconstruction of a high-voltage power cable has come under questions. Helge Eidsnes, a regional manager of Statens Vegve
    Read More

Highlighted Content