China has already opened the longest underwater tunnel in the country: the Taihu tunnel. Almost 11 kilometers long and 7.2 meters high, this engineering work located in Jiangsu province passes below Taihu Lake, in eastern China, which is also the third largest freshwater lake in the country.
The construction of this underwater tunnel began in January 2018, and has required an investment of more than 1,500 million dollars.
With six lanes and two directions of traffic
Almost two million cubic meters of concrete, automatic steel processing equipment and intelligent systems were used to carry out the project to prevent the leakage of sewage and dust, according to the experts. local media.
The Taihu Tunnel, built under Taihu Lake in #Wuxi, opened to traffic on Dec 30. It is the longest passageway under a lake ever built in China. The tunnel will shorten traffic time and bring convenience for its surrounding areas. pic.twitter.com/tayIstdFOt
— Charming Wuxi China (@WuxiCity) December 31, 2021
Avoiding water seepage has been one of the main problems at the engineering level, since the tunnel is located at 20 meters deep. It has two directions of traffic and six lanes thanks to its 43 meters wide, and to access it you have to go through a tollbooth.
Among the technological details highlights the LED lighting with colors, to avoid, he says, driver fatigue.
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It is expected to reduce the travel time of its users and to serve as a connection between several cities. The tunnel is part of the 44-kilometer-long Changzhou-Wuxi Expressway, which has also recently been opened to traffic.
???????? A pair of aerial photos show the construction site of Nanquan section of Taihu tunnel, part of the Changzhou-Wuxi Highway, in Wuxi, east China’s Jiangsu Province. pic.twitter.com/vR9P2rnbKK
— Wu Xiaoping Wu Xiaoping (@SilingWu) September 6, 2021
Other underwater tunnels famous for their length are the Ryfast, in Norway (also for a fee), which is 14.3 km long, or the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, a motorway for vehicles that passes under Tokyo Bay. and that is 9.6 km long.
Although the Taihu is an impressive construction that will represent a new way of traveling by road in China, it is the Eurotunnel or Tunnel of the English Channel which is considered one of the largest underwater tunnels in the world.
Work on a tunnel beneath Taihu Lake in my hometown @WuxiCity has seen great progres, with water set to be pumped back over the construction site. The 10.8km long &43.6m wide tunnel, part of Changzhou-Wuxi Highway, will be the longest &widest expressway tunnel in #China. pic.twitter.com/j3DSy4V2Do
— Ambassador Deng Xijun (@China2ASEAN) November 20, 2020
It connects the United Kingdom and France by rail and the submerged part stretches for 37.9 kilometers, which can be covered by private vehicle on board the Eurostar train.
And watch out for Faroe Islands, in Denmark. In January 2021 they inaugurated an underwater roundabout, the construction of which has taken three years. It is part of a series of 11 km long underwater tunnels connecting the islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy. The structure, made of natural rock and decorated by Faroese artist Tróndur Patursson, resembles a jellyfish and is illuminated with blue and green lights.
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