NORWAY’S ROGFAST PROJECT IS PUSHING ENGINEERING LIMITS UNDER THE SEA

NORWAY’S ROGFAST PROJECT IS PUSHING ENGINEERING LIMITS UNDER THE SEA

As the saying goes, it does not cost us any money to dream, so why not dream about good things for our country?

After being surprised and scandalized by reports about questionable flood control spending, perhaps we should start asking a different question: what if those billions of pesos were invested in truly transformative public works projects that future generations could be proud of?

One lesson we learned from those controversies is that the government is not necessarily lacking in money. What is often lacking is transparency, accountability, and the ability to monitor how public funds are spent.

That is why I was fascinated by Norway’s Rogfast Project, a massive undersea highway tunnel that is now under construction. When completed, it will become the world's longest and deepest subsea road tunnel. Stretching about 27 kilometers beneath the sea and reaching a depth of approximately 392 meters below sea level, it is designed to connect the cities of Stavanger and Bergen as part of Norway’s ambitious ferry-free coastal highway system.

What makes the project even more remarkable is the planned underwater interchange near the island of Kvitsøy. Imagine a roundabout deep beneath the ocean floor, allowing motorists to exit toward island communities. It sounds like science fiction, yet Norwegian engineers are building it today.

Naturally, this raises an intriguing question. Could the Philippines someday undertake similar projects?

Imagine an undersea tunnel connecting Negros Island to Cebu, or Cebu to Mindanao. Some may call that idea crazy. Others may call it audacious. Yet those are the same words often used to describe Rogfast.

What does Norway have that we do not have?

Surely, the answer is not simply money. The Philippines spends hundreds of billions of pesos annually on infrastructure. The difference may lie in governance, transparency, long-term planning, and public trust. These are precisely the qualities that help reduce corruption and make mega-projects possible.

To be practical, I am not suggesting that we immediately start digging tunnels beneath our seas. Our priorities today may still be flood control, irrigation, farm-to-market roads, railways, ports, airports, and bridges. We must also strengthen our institutions before embarking on projects of such enormous complexity.

However, there is value in thinking big.

The San Juanico Bridge was once considered impossible. The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway was once merely a concept. Even the idea of connecting islands through fixed links was viewed as unrealistic decades ago.

Perhaps the time for Philippine undersea tunnels has not yet arrived. Perhaps it will come when corruption is reduced, governance improves, and public confidence in government reaches higher levels.

Am I crazy for thinking about this? Maybe.

But could I be any crazier than the Norwegian officials and engineers who decided to build a 27-kilometer tunnel almost 400 meters below the sea?

In fairness to them, and perhaps to me as well, progress often begins with people willing to imagine what others consider impossible.

For now, I would leave the final decision to future generations. Hopefully, by then, they will have the confidence, competence, and integrity to think bigger than we do today—and to build projects that we can only dream about now.

If we can remove politicians for stealing public money, why shouldn't we also remove politicians who are caught deliberately lying to the people who elected them?

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/07-02-2027

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