Atlanterhavsveien

Situated in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, Atlanterhavsveien (lit. "The Atlantic Road") is the part of Norwegian national road 64 ("Rv 64") that connects the island of Averøy to Vevang, Eide, on the mainland; by extension, the road connects the cities of Kristiansund and Molde. [A car ferry must be used between Kristiansund and Averøy until the opening of Atlanterhavstunnelen ("The Atlantic Tunnel"), planned for late 2008.] [The main inland connection between Kristiansund and Molde is the KRIFAST bridge/tunnel system.]

Construction work on the road started on August 1,1983, with the opening taking place on July 7 1989. During this period there were no less than 12 hurricanes in the area. The 8.3 km (5 mile) long road is built on several small islands and skerries, and is spanned by eight bridges and several landfills.

This road has an open sea view which is not so common for roads along the Norwegian coast, since there are archipelagos that obscures this view. Here the distance between the islands is so small that a road could be built across the archipelago. In addition there are fjords and mountains inside the road.

The spectacular road quickly became a popular tourist attraction to the extent that caution must be shown when driving it, as both the local population and visitors frequently use the road to go fishing for cod and other saltwater fish directly from the roadside.

Atlanterhavsveien was voted "Norwegian Construction of the Century" on 27 September 2005, and is currently Norway's second most visited scenic road after Trollstigen (also in Møre og Romsdal). Atlanterhavsveien's sharp turns and wild nature have ranked it first on "The Guardian"'s list of the world's best road trips, in sharp competition with world renowned attractions such as Northern Ireland's Antrim coast road and the Himalayas.

The bridges of Atlanterhavsveien

Listed from west to east:
* Vevangstraumen Bridge – length 119 metres; maximum clearance 10 metres
* Hulvågen Bridges (3 bridges) – length 293 metres; maximum clearance 4 metres
* Storseisundet Bridge – length 260 metres; maximum clearance 23 metres
* Geitøysundet Bridge – length 52 metres; maximum clearance 6 metres
* Store Lauvøysund Bridge – length 52 metres; maximum clearance 3 metres
* Lille Lauvøysund Bridge – length 115 metres; maximum clearance 7 metres

Notes

External links

* [http://www.atlanterhavsveien.no/e_index.html "Atlanterhavsveien - Where Land meets Sea"] – Official website
* [http://lp.aftenposten.no/ego/mostread/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/bildeserier/article1123123.ece "Norwegian Construction of the Century"] – Photo gallery, "Aftenposten"
* [http://www.norway.org.uk/travel/news/atlanticroad.htm The Atlantic Road named number one road trip by The Guardian] – Press release from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 April 2006