By
The Associated Press
OSLO, Norway - Dreams of traveling coast-to-coast without having to navigate treacherous mountain passes came true for Norwegians yesterday with the opening of the world's longest highway tunnel.
The 15.2-mile-long Laerdal Tunnel links the capital, Oslo, on Norway's eastern coast with the country's second-largest city, Bergen, in the west. Until now, the oft-traveled route meant circumventing water and mountains.
"The terrain of this area has always presented a tremendous challenge to those who built roads," King Harald V said in opening the tunnel. "I congratulate the highway department and all others who were part of building the world's longest highway tunnel."
Work on the $1.1-billion tunnel from Laerdal to Aurland began five years ago. It goes as deep as 4,900 feet beneath one of Norway's most scenic mountain areas about 185 miles northwest of Oslo.
The tunnel's length surpasses the 10.5-mile St. Gothard Tunnel in the Swiss Alps as the world's longest, according to the national highway department.
The longest similar tunnel in the United States is the 8,959-foot E. Johnson Memorial Tunnel, running through the Colorado's Rocky Mountains along Interstate-70, according to the "The World Almanac."
Even before the tunnel was officially open, its ventilation and air filtering system had a first test yesterday. A bus traveling to the opening ceremony filled with smoke about halfway through the tunnel, forcing passengers to wait in the tunnel for the smoke to clear. No one was hurt.
