The E39 Coastal Highway Route (Ferry Free E39)

The Norwegian Parliament has a long-term goal to develop the E39 as an improved and continuous Coastal Highway Route between Kristiansand and Trondheim. This was confirmed by the Parliament in June 2017 during the presentation and discussion of the National Transport Plan (NTP) for 2018–2029.

The route runs from Kristiansand in the south to Trondheim in the north, and is approximately 1100 km long. The route runs through six counties, and the cities of Stavanger, Bergen, Ålesund and Molde. Travel time today is around 21 hours, and road users need to use seven different ferry connections. The aim is to create an improved E39 without ferries, which will reduce travel time by half. The route will be almost 50 kilometres shorter. The reduction in travel time will be achieved by replacing ferries with bridges and tunnels, in addition to upgrading a number of road sections on land. Preliminary estimates show that the required investments and improvements will cost approximately NOK 340 billion.

Around 50 Ph.D. and post-doc projects are now running, mainly financed by The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). Among theses, around 80 % are connected to NTNU. Main topics related to concrete research are:

• Cracks & corrosion
• Crack width calculations
• Fire & explosion

List of all PhD/postdoc projects: Link