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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Kjernfjelltunnelen
Kjernfjelltunnelen (English: Kjernfjell Tunnel; Lule Sami: Girnotunælla) is a road tunnel on Norwegian National Road 77 (Rv 77) between the village of Storjord in Saltdal Municipality in Nordland county and the national border with Sweden. The tunnel runs through the mountain Kjernfjellet in the Junkerdalen valley. The tunnel has a length of 3,248 metres (2.018 mi).

The construction work began in September 2016, and the tunnel opened to traffic on 17 October 2019.

Eastern tunnel opening, the old road along the slope to the right.
Credit: Frankemann

The tunnel replaced an exposed stretch of road and a bottleneck along Rv77 connecting Saltdal Municipality (in Norway) and Arjeplog Municipality (in Sweden). The old section passed thorugh a gorge in the lower part of the Junkerdalen valley. The road was narrow, steep, and winding, and large vehicles often got stuck. Detour roads are E12 (Umbukta) and E10 (Bjørnfjell).

Etymology

The name of the tunnel was unclear for a long time, some thought it was Tjernfjelltunnelen and others thought it was Kjernfjelltunnelen, because that was a controversy over the name of the mountain through which the tunnel passes. The Mapping Authority and the Language Council believed that the correct name was "Kjernfjellet" and that it had been used for 184 years. The local residents believed that they had been saying "Tjernfjell" for several generations and that they therefore had the law on their side when it came to being allowed to keep the place name. A map from 1911 shows the spelling "Kjernefjellet".

The Mapping Authority decided in spring 2019 that the spelling Kjernfjellet should be used as the place name for the area. From this it follows that the tunnel is signposted Kjernfjelltunnelen, as well as the Lule Sámi name Girnotunælla.

The Lule Sámi name is disputed, because the tunnel is located in Pite Sámi territory. On 20 August 2019, Pite Sámi became an officially approved written language.

Internals

The tunnel has 27 emergency stations with telephones and fire extinguishers. There are niches where vehicles have the opportunity to turn as well as breakdown pockets. There are six cameras inside the tunnel and two outside the opening. The old stretch of national highway 77 is closed to car traffic and open to pedestrians and cyclists during the summer months. Telenor originally did not want to install mobile coverage in the tunnel because the company assumed that it would not be profitable.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Trafikkdata" [Traffic data]. Norwegian Public Roads Administration (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  2. ^ "Rv. 77 Kjernfjellet". Norwegian Public Roads Administration (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  3. ^ Skogheim, Catherine (2016-08-20). "Her bygger Hæhre ny tunnel i Saltdal" [Here, Hæhre is building a new tunnel in Saltdal]. RanaBlad (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  4. ^ "Kompensasjon for endringer differensiert arbeidsgiveravgift: 519,5 millioner kroner - for 2014 og 2015 - til transportnettet i Nord-Norge" [Compensation for changes to differentiated employer contribution: NOK 519.5 million - for 2014 and 2015 - for the transport network in Northern Norway]. Government.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Ministry of Transport. 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2023-06-13 – via The Government of Solberg.
  5. ^ Robertson, Heidi (2014-01-08). "Salten ønsker tunnel gjennom Tjernfjellet forsert" [Salten wants a tunnel through Tjernfjellet forced]. Salten Regionråd (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  6. ^ "Svenskene jubler for ny tunnel" [The Swedes are cheering for the new tunnel]. Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  7. ^ "Kjernfjelltunnelen innebærer en samferdselsmessig revolusjon" [The Kjernfjell tunnel involves a transport revolution]. Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). 2019-10-17. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  8. ^ "Kjernfjelltunnelen er åpnet" [The Kjernfjell Tunnel has opened]. Norwegian Public Roads Administration (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  9. ^ Kristoffersen, Kai Jæger (2019-09-09). "Kommune vil endre 184 år gammelt navn, men Kartverket nekter" [The municipality wants to change its 184-year-old name, but the Mapping Authority refuses]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  10. ^ Thonhaugen, Markus (2020-09-07). "Dette kartet viser hvorfor kommunen måtte gi seg i navnekrangelen" [This map shows why the municipality had to give in to the name dispute]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  11. ^ Bergersen, Therese (2019-10-16). "Åpnet Norges nyeste tunnel – men krangler fortsatt om navnet" [Opened Norway's newest tunnel - but still arguing about the name]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  12. ^ Abelsen, Tarjei (2019-10-22). "- Tunnelen har fått feil samisk navn" [- The tunnel has been given the wrong Sami name]. Saltenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2023-06-13.
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