Because constructing a tunnel of any kind is a very complex job that requires dedicated machinery, entire networks of well-maintained conveyor belts and considerable manpower to complete, most tunnel designs opt to keep it simple and stay on the path of least resistance.

This means that most tunnels tend to be straight, burrowing under the ground roughly where the crow flies, unless there are situations and consequences which make that impossible.

However, not every tunnel has the same needs and requirements, meaning that whilst a straight tunnel is the best way of connecting Point A and Point B, what should you do if there is a Point C to go to as well?

This was not a hypothetical, but a serious concern facing the Faroe Islands, an archipelago that is part of Denmark and consists of a cluster of 17 islands with inhabitants, as well as various other smaller islands.

There is a definite need for a tunnel, but the most logical tunnel would require three destinations. The innovative answer to this led to a tunnel design that had never been made before.

Roundabout The Islands

As with many archipelagos, there are multiple population centres that are separated by water, which has historically meant that many people who commute from one island to another needed to use a ferry.

As with most ferry commutes, this is a solution that can quickly become incredibly problematic as congestion builds up, so this invariably leads not to questions of whether alternative infrastructure is constructed, but whether the best option is a bridge or an underwater tunnel.

The Faroe Islands had seen tunnel construction before, with the Vagar Tunnel between Streymoy, where the nation’s capital Torshavn is located, and Vagar being the first to open in 2002. Four years later, the Northern Islands Tunnel between Eysturoy, the second largest island, and Bordoy would also open.

As early as 1999 plans and ideas had been proposed to make a tunnel between Streymoy and Eysturoy, but aside from financial issues, there were problems with deciding where the tunnel would actually go.

On the Streymoy side, the answer was simple; the tunnel would be constructed in the village of Hvitanes slightly north of Torshavn and cross the sea to Eystruroy, but the problem was that there were two potential landing points roughly equidistant to each other and equally important.

These were Strendur and Runavik, on the western and eastern sides of the Skalafjordur fjord. Both are urbanised villages with relatively similar populations and importance on the island of Eysturoy, and both would merit the construction of a tunnel.

Ultimately, this led to a truly unusual compromise where it would be built to both Strendur and Runavik, with an underground roundabout connecting the pair to Hvitanes.

Astonishingly, this ended up being the first ever undersea road tunnel to feature a roundabout, which quickly became a landmark in itself for its unusual jellyfish motif and artistic central sculpture.

The roundabout section even had a soundtrack, lighting and artwork from local artists as well, something that has also been seen with other tunnels around the Faroe Islands.

Once completed, the Eysturoy Tunnel became the second-largest undersea road tunnel, just behind The Ryfast tunnel in nearby Norway. The only tunnels that are bigger, such as the Channel Tunnel, are exclusively for rail use.

The difference has been extremely stark; whilst it previously took nearly an hour to travel between the Faroe Islands’ two biggest islands, that time has been cut down to just 14 minutes, and there is now a route across the two sides of the fjord that was not available previously.

Arguably the biggest impact of the tunnel is to transform the nature of the archipelago. Whilst not far apart geographically, the water in between the 18 islands has made it difficult for locals, commuters and freight to travel within and around the nation.

The series of tunnels, in particular the Eysturoy Tunnel, have transformed the islands into a unified nation linked by a series of tunnels and allowing for much closer ties and unity in a nation with a population of 55,000 people scattered across various islands.

It is often easy to look at the construction of tunnels as a matter simply of transportation without realising the impact the wider availability of faster transport solutions has on people, and its ability to bring people together and open new opportunities across the islands is something that provides hope and inspiration for other nations planning major infrastructure projects.

The Faroe Islands have already constructed another tunnel since Eysturoy, with two others currently under construction.