Superlative Tunnels

I’ve been enjoying the World’s Longest Tunnel page recently and I decided to see if I could locate some of the more striking examples using maps and photo sites. Oftentimes I could locate those spots although honestly, sometimes the interior of a tunnel isn’t particularly impressive. Anyway, let’s see what we can find in these rather unusual places.


World’s Longest Auto Tunnel

Laerdalstunnelen. Photo by Elisabetta Stringhi; (CC BY 2.0)

Norway claims the world’s longest automobile tunnel, between Aurland and Laerdal (map). They call it the Laerdalstunnelen and it stretches 24.5 kilometres (15.2 miles) on the main route between Oslo and Bergen. Other sites corroborate the claim so I guess it’s a fair assessment. Fact checking isn’t my strongest suit. Don’t take what I say necessarily at face value.

I can’t possibly imagine what it must be like to drive that distance underground and apparently the engineers who designed it couldn’t either, so they constructed three large “caves” along the route to break the monotony.


World’s Longest Subaqueous Automobile Tunnel

Umihotaru Parking Area Aerial Photo 20150131. Photo by "Chihaya Sta, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps a tunnel through the mountains isn’t daunting enough for you? How about taking it underwater? You’ll want to head towards the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line in Japan. The tunnel portion of this bridge-tunnel combo under Tokyo Bay extends 9.6 km (6 miles). It also offered me the opportunity to use the word “subaqueous” which isn’t something one encounters every day. Cool.

Google Street View extends onto this rather unusual platform at the tunnel entrance (map). It has a bunch of shops, restaurants, and arcades which serves as a destination unto itself. I suppose it’s possible to go to the little man-made island, make an afternoon of it and go home without going through the tunnel. However if I’d just spent ¥3000 you better believe I’d go back and forth through that tunnel as many times as they’d let me pass. That’s a serious toll.


Longest Railroad Tunnel

UPDATE: It opened in December 2016

I don’t have an image of what will be the the world’s longest railroad tunnel because it’s under construction in Switzerland. When it’s finished sometime around 2017 or 2018 it will extend an astounding 57 km (35.4 mi). It’s called the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) and there’s an English version of their official website if you want all the details. German, Italian and French are also available. See you in a few years at the grand opening!


Longest Canal Tunnel

Canals were an efficient method of transportation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries until the railroads arrived. In many ways they’re an anachronism, but lots of them them have survived into the modern era for a variety of reasons including nostalgia and tourism.

Sure, canals needed tunnels just like other forms of land-based transportation. The longest canal tunnel still in existence can be found in Riqueval, France. It was built between 1802-1810 and it extends 5.67 km (3.5 mi).

Streetview has lots of great images in the area, but not of the actual canal entrance because the banks of the canal are raised and topped by vegetation. The satellite image is pretty good, though. You can follow its path by looking along the surface — simply follow the narrow line of trees.

It’s called the “Touage souterrain de Riqueval.” Those of you who speak French probably have a great translation for that phrase but the best I figure was something like the “subterranean tow canal of Riqueval.” Indeed, a small barge tows other barges along the canal and through the tunnel. French Wikipedia covers this site, as does the video embedded above. You’ll really like the video if you enjoy looking at a tunnel from every conceivable angle. I liked it but I’m not sure what that says about me.


Longest I’m Not Sure What to Call It

I couldn’t find this shared automobile – train tunnel on the Portage Glacier Highway in Whittier, Alaska on the Worlds Longest Tunnel page. Maybe it’s there. I don’t know. Oddly this was the one tunnel that got me interested in the topic and somehow led me to the website. I’ve had a fixation on this tunnel lately (map).

The Alaska Department of Transportation calls this the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. They describe it as the “longest combined vehicle-railroad tunnel in North America.”

It’s about 4 km (2.5 mi) so it’s not in the same class as some as the others. The interesting aspect, however, is that it’s the only land connection between Whittier and the outside world. The tunnel has room for a single lane of traffic so vehicles move back-and-forth on an established schedule. In addition there are occasional delays whenever a train needs to use it!

UPDATE: I drove through this tunnel in July 2010.

Comments

4 responses to “Superlative Tunnels”

  1. Lost Owl Avatar

    Pennsylvania has a number of abandoned turnpike tunnels. Two of these can be visited, on foot or bike, as part of the planned Pike-2-Bike trail. I would think they would be the longest bicycle tunnels in the world.

    http://www.piketobike.org

    I’ve walked the Ray’s Hill Tunnel; it’s .7 miles. Sideling Hill is 1.3 miles. The web says the longest is in Copenhagen at 850 meters, that’s only about half a mile.

  2. Christine Avatar

    While my trip on the Alaska Railroad didn’t include the tunnel in Whittier, I have been to PA’s abandoned turnpike tunnels in Bedford and Fulton counties. A great place for an eerie bike ride! I’m curious if they are among the longest bike tunnels… Sideling Hill certainly feels like it when your flashlight dies 1/3 of the way through!

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      Lost Owl & Christine: Wow! Thanks for the links to the websites and the photos — I had no idea these tunnels existed. Now that I do, they’re definitely on my visit list. I could probably do this in a day-trip so there’s a reasonable chance I might actually get to check it out.

  3. David García Bodego Avatar

    The longest road tunnel is the Calle 30 Manzanares Tunnel in Madrid: 24.931 metres (360 meters with 2 TBM and the rest with cut and cover). All the tunnels in the Calle 30 is the longest tunnel net in one street in the world (43.085 meters). The Manzanares tunnel was constructed above the Manzanares river… the longest tunnel above water surface.

    But the superlative tunnels…

    Delaware aqueduct -> 137 km
    Päijänne aqueduct -> 120 km
    Quanat firaun: (First Century) 94 km of one-piece tunnel
    Orange-Fish and Bolmen aqueduct -> 82.800 m and 82.000 m
    3rd Manhattan water collector -> 96560 m (under construction)

    The San Gotardo Base Tunnel is a great tunnel, but the aqueduct tunnels are longest… since the Roman civilization. There´s no much information, but actually there are some projects in China of greatest railway and underground tunnels.

    And for mixed traffic, there are a lot of closed tunnels, mainly for railway, that are longest: take a look to Switzerland… All the tunnels in construction or finished in a short period are replacing very long tunnels. The quanat firaun doesn´t transport any water… (take a walk for 94 km of tunnel)

    Best Regards

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