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

  • Norway’s record breaking undersea road tunnel
    February 25, 2015
    The world's deepest road tunnel is currently in construction near Stavanger in Norway but is only the prelude to even larger projects - report and photographs by Adrian Greeman. Norway's convoluted coastline of fjords and high mountains is famously scenic but also a major problem for transport and connections. The country has long experience of constructing tunnels as a result. Now a series of tunnels underway, or in design, around the oil industry city of Stavanger will stretch its skills more than usual.
    Read More
  • Norway mega-project contract for Fugro
    December 20, 2017
    The largest road project in Norway’s history has seen Fugro win a second major contract from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The work on the E39 Coastal Highway is for the construction of a 1,100km route from Kristiansand in the south to Trondheim in central Norway. This project is expected cost around €34.4 billion (NOK 340 billion).
    Read More
  • Norway mulls new routes across the vast Hardangervidda plateau
    November 2, 2015
    Norway is considering proposals for another route across over the vast Hardangervidda, one of Europe’s largest plateaux and most of which is a national park. The Norwegian Road Administration (Statens Vegvesen) said one proposal would incorporate a 6km tunnel at a cost more than €216 million, according to a report the Nationen newspaper.
    Read More
  • Norway’s massive Rogfast Tunnel project
    December 11, 2018
    The world's longest and deepest road tunnel is underway in western Norway - Adrian Greeman reports
    Read More

Highlighted Content