Trekantsambandet, the Triangle Link, is the road connection that ties together the islands of Stord and Bømlo with the mainland at Sveio. It consists of three parts: the Stord Bridge (1,077 metres), the Bømla Bridge (998 metres), and the Bømlafjordtunnelen subsea tunnel (7,860 metres, reaching 260 metres below sea level).
The project was first proposed in the 1960s as a pontoon bridge, debated and redesigned for decades, and finally approved by Parliament in 1996. The total cost was about 1.8 billion kroner. Tolls were collected from opening until April 2013, when the project was fully paid off.
Before the Triangle Link, these islands depended entirely on ferries. The connection transformed the region, though the debate was fierce: environmental groups opposed it, ferry workers protested that they were collecting tolls for the project that would eliminate their jobs, and one resident argued the tolls could last 60 years instead of the projected 15.
If you are driving the E39 between Haugesund and Bergen, you cross the Triangle Link without necessarily realising it. The bridges and tunnel are simply part of the highway now.
The project was first proposed in the 1960s as a pontoon bridge, debated and redesigned for decades, and finally approved by Parliament in 1996. The total cost was about 1.8 billion kroner. Tolls were collected from opening until April 2013, when the project was fully paid off.
Before the Triangle Link, these islands depended entirely on ferries. The connection transformed the region, though the debate was fierce: environmental groups opposed it, ferry workers protested that they were collecting tolls for the project that would eliminate their jobs, and one resident argued the tolls could last 60 years instead of the projected 15.
If you are driving the E39 between Haugesund and Bergen, you cross the Triangle Link without necessarily realising it. The bridges and tunnel are simply part of the highway now.