Mælefjell Tunnel

The Mælefjell Tunnel (Norwegian: Mælefjelltunnelen) is a 9.35-kilometre-long (5.81 mi) road tunnel along the European route E134 highway in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The southern end of the tunnel is located at Århus on the north side of the village of Seljord in Seljord Municipality. The northern end of the tunnel is at Gvammen, just east of the village of Hjartdal in Hjartdal Municipality. The tunnel was opened on 19 December 2019, as Norway's seventh longest road tunnel. It is part of the European route E134 highway, and upon its completion, it made the highway about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) shorter, saving trucks about 18 minutes of driving time between those two places. Construction started in 2013 and the breakthrough occurred on 3 May 2017.[1]

Mælefjell Tunnel
Hall in the tunnel, December 2019
Overview
Official nameMælefjelltunnelen
Other name(s)Århus-Gvammen (project)
LocationUpper Telemark, Telemark og Vestfold, Norway
Coordinates59°33′35″N 08°41′14″E
Route E134
CrossesMælefjell
StartÅrhus, Seljord, Telemark, Norway
EndGvammen, Hjartdal, Telemark, Norway
Operation
Work begun2013
Opened19 December 2019
OwnerGovernment of Norway
OperatorNorwegian Public Roads Administration
TrafficAutomotive
CharacterRapid transit
TollFree
Vehicles per dayc. 1700-2750
(Based on 2006 traffic counts)
Technical
Design engineerNCC
Length9.355 km (5.813 mi)
No. of lanes2
Operating speed80 km (50 mi)
Width10.5 m (34 ft)
Route map
Route map of the Mælefjell Tunnel
Route map of the Mælefjell Tunnel

Background

The tunnel was built to shorten the travel time along the European route E134 highway and provide better accessibility especially for heavy vehicles by avoiding the Åsebrekken pass, as well as increasing traffic safety along a congested section of road. The 9,355-metre (30,692 ft) long tunnel passes beneath the mountain Mælefjell. A total of 11.7 kilometres (7.3 mi) of new road was built, replacing 22.6 kilometres (14.0 mi) of the former route through Flatdal. The project was financed by the government of Norway. The total cost was 2 billion kr.[2][3]

  • Northern entrance
    Northern entrance
  • Southern entrance
    Southern entrance

References
  1. "Jubler for hull i fjellet". NRK Telemark. 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  2. "E134 Gvammen–Århus - Eit stort og viktig vegprosjekt i Telemark" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statens vegvesen. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  3. "Pressemelding 55/13" (in Norwegian). Samferdselsdepartementet.
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