EngineeringLength
Longest road tunnel
24.51 km
15.230 mi
- Record holder
- Lærdal Tunnel
✓ Value cross-checked in a second source
How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| current | 24.51 km | Lærdal Tunnel |
| 16.918 km | Gotthard Road Tunnel | |
| 13.972 km | Arlberg Road Tunnel | |
| 11.611 km | Mont Blanc Tunnel | |
| 5.240 km | Vielha Tunnel | |
| 3.240 km | Queensway tunnel | |
| 3.182 km | Col de Tende Road Tunnel |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 3.182 kmCol de Tende Road Tunnel
- 13.972 kmArlberg Road Tunnel
- 5.240 kmVielha Tunnel
- 24.51 kmLærdal Tunnel
What to remember
To break the monotony of the drive, the Lærdal Tunnel is split into four sections by three large caverns dug into the mountain. Their lighting evokes the northern lights, and they also give drivers room to turn around. Several stopping points are spread along its 24.51 km.
The tunnel links Lærdal and Aurland in Vestland county, Norway; its southwest end lies about 117 km northeast of Bergen. Work began in 1995 and it opened on 27 November 2000. It carries two lanes of European Route E16 and was the final link of the highway between Oslo and Bergen with no ferry and no difficult winter mountain crossing.
The road tunnel history shows how lengths grew: 3.182 km for the Col de Tende Road Tunnel in 1882, 11.611 km for the Mont Blanc Tunnel in 1965 and 16.918 km for the Gotthard Road Tunnel in 1980. Since 1882, the record length has grown by a ratio of 7.7.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of longest road tunnels” (revision used 1376971141). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: Svein-Magne Tunli, Photo licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
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