Despite being one of the smallest countries sizewise, the Faroe Islands are making the headlines with the first undersea roundabout in the world. But the roundabout is actually a part of a more extensive road project which the citizens are calling the Eysturoyartunnilin. The Eysturoy Tunnel in English, the undersea road/tunnel is almost 12 kilometers long and has been operational since 2020. Moreover, the tunnel is also famous for its artwork of sculptures and light shows. The road provides the drivers both with convenient transportation and a spectacle.
Eysturoyartunnilin is the biggest infrastructure project in the history of the Faroe Islands. The tunnel links the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturoy and the first undersea roundabout is near its center. The roundabout connects three tunnel tubes and the roads that go to the islands.
While the roundabout is unique on its own, the Faroe Islands are no strangers to underwater tunnels. The country is an archipelago consisting of 18 mountainous islands. Until the 60s and 70s, transportation between these islands was really difficult. The citizens had to use ferries and dangerous roads to come and go. However, this situation changed with the first road tunnel between two islands in the early 1960s.
Since then, the officials of the country have turned their focus on building undersea tunnels. While these tunnels provided easy access, they also greatly reduced the time it took to travel from one island to another.
As the Faroe Islands continued making these tunnels, they got better at it with time. To the extent that they were able to build a roundabout 70 meters below the ocean, which is the first of its kind.
The islanders and the construction team were also aware of this achievement. Therefore, they painted human figures holding hands on the structure of the roundabout. These figures represent the idea that when humans come together anything is possible.
