Turkey Unveiled The World's First Intercontinental Tunnel
Source: http://www.inhabitat.com/turkey-inaugurates-worlds-first-inter-continental-sea-tunnel-amid-controver
#tunnel #turkey #istanbul #record #construction
More than 150 years since it was first dreamed up by an Ottoman sultan, Turkey on October 29 unveiled the world's first sea tunnel linking two continents.
The tunnel, which has taken nine years to construct under the Bosporus straits, is part of Istanbul's metro service, and will connect the European and Asian sides of Turkey's biggest city.
Known as the Marmaray metro link, it is slated to revolutionize the city, where public transport is limited and traffic jams are the stuff of legend.
First suggested by Ottoman sultan Abdoul Medjid in 1860, it wasn't until 2004 that Erdogan - then Mayor of Istanbul - gave the final go-ahead for the tunnel, as part of a series of lavish construction projects for the city including a third airport, a parallel canal and a third bridge.
Nine years after Erdogan gave it the green light, the US$ 4.6 billion first stage of the Marmaray project is now opened - four years behind schedule. Presenting something of a technical challenge, the 1.4 kilometer long undersea tunnel was constructed by lowering steel-lined pre-cast concrete sections into a trench excavated 60 meter down on the seabed of the Sea of Marmara, where they were then buried. A further 12.2 kilometer of on-land tunnels connect the three stations which make up the project's first phase. The rail tunnel is said to be earthquake-proof, an important consideration in an area plagued by strong seismic activity.
The tunnel, which has taken nine years to construct under the Bosporus straits, is part of Istanbul's metro service, and will connect the European and Asian sides of Turkey's biggest city.
Known as the Marmaray metro link, it is slated to revolutionize the city, where public transport is limited and traffic jams are the stuff of legend.
First suggested by Ottoman sultan Abdoul Medjid in 1860, it wasn't until 2004 that Erdogan - then Mayor of Istanbul - gave the final go-ahead for the tunnel, as part of a series of lavish construction projects for the city including a third airport, a parallel canal and a third bridge.
Nine years after Erdogan gave it the green light, the US$ 4.6 billion first stage of the Marmaray project is now opened - four years behind schedule. Presenting something of a technical challenge, the 1.4 kilometer long undersea tunnel was constructed by lowering steel-lined pre-cast concrete sections into a trench excavated 60 meter down on the seabed of the Sea of Marmara, where they were then buried. A further 12.2 kilometer of on-land tunnels connect the three stations which make up the project's first phase. The rail tunnel is said to be earthquake-proof, an important consideration in an area plagued by strong seismic activity.
