logoalt Hacker News

Norway greenlights first full-scale ship tunnel

123 pointsby geoxtoday at 10:16 AM71 commentsview on HN

Comments

christophilustoday at 6:10 PM

It will be interesting to see if it’s ever completed. I imagine dealing with ship fumes in a tunnel will be a challenge. And, I’m curious what the plan is when a ship runs into the sides or breaks down halfway through.

Super cool project nonetheless. I hope it succeeds.

show 1 reply
mkltoday at 11:34 AM

Having no map is weird. Wikipedia has one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stad_Ship_Tunnel

show 3 replies
dgellowtoday at 1:37 PM

Only 4 years of work to be ready? That sounds pretty optimistic (crying in German)

show 3 replies
jmspamerton2today at 6:07 PM

boondoggle

Someonetoday at 2:42 PM

FTA: Norway will start building the first full-size ship tunnel in the world

And “Full-size” means what? Sea-faring?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_tunnel lists several tunnels that ships can pass through, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rove_Tunnel, to me, seems to have supported decently sized ships.

show 4 replies
fuoqitoday at 4:52 PM

I wonder how much would it cost to build a tunnel as an alternative to the Panama canal to fundamentally resolve the drought issues. 1.8 km is comparable to ~80 km (probably a shorter tunnel will suffice) and dimensions are also similar (at least for the old Panamax).

nairboontoday at 11:56 AM

That's kind of cool. Norway also has roundabouts in tunnels. I guess they like tunnels.

show 4 replies
bigpeopleareoldtoday at 1:16 PM

The first time I heard about this was last week when I was listening to the economic issues that the article mentions on NRK "political quarter" (NRK is the national broadcaster) with the word "waste" being thrown around a lot. This article from VG debates the cost and puts it into contrast what could have been done instead: https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/q6k3ko/skipstunnelen-er-historis... ... it's been contentious as I understand.

show 1 reply
swiftcodertoday at 2:40 PM

That's a pretty metal approach to navigation. Despite being missing from the AI rendering, I really hope they are going to put big breakwaters around the tunnel entrances - the last thing you want is a storm swell entering your tunnel...

show 1 reply
notfriedtoday at 10:58 AM

When an architecture company seemingly uses AI to render mockups, they really need to ensure consistency and accuracy. It's not that difficult nowadays. It was quite confusing trying to understand the differences in design between pictures and to compute why the tunnel seems so short compared to the mountain, until I realized it must have been laziness; not laziness because they are using AI, but laziness to do their job right.

show 6 replies
eesmithtoday at 11:52 AM

Previous HN postings which had comments are:

"A plan to build a ship tunnel" (2017), at http://newatlas.com/stad-ship-tunnel-interview-terje-andreas... with 29 comments at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13920841

"First ship tunnel to be built under Norwegian mountains" (2021), at https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/norway-ship-tunnel/in... with 25 comments at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26540805

See also gCaptain at https://gcaptain.com/worlds-first-ship-tunnel-to-bypass-dang... from 2017 and https://gcaptain.com/norway-gives-green-light-for-worlds-fir... from 2021.

philipwhiuktoday at 1:22 PM

I'm not hugely sure I see the point - it doesn't link to anywhere major. Is Måløy to Åheim a major route?

show 4 replies