The 3-mile long mega-construction that crosses the seabed to connect two continents
The Bosphorus Tunnel, also called the Eurasia Tunnel, is in Istanbul, Turkey. It crosses the strait at a maximum depth of 348 feet.
Built at depths exceeding 300 feet, reaching 348 feet at its deepest point, and running about 3.1 miles, the Bosphorus Tunnel, also known as the Eurasia Tunnel, opened in 2016.
This road tunnel carries vehicle traffic between the European side of Istanbul (Kazlıçeşme district) and the Asian side (Göztepe district). It operates alongside the Marmaray Tunnel, which is a rail link. In this case, the Eurasia Tunnel is the subsea roadway that crosses the Bosphorus Strait.
Major project to ease traffic in Istanbul
The project helped ease traffic in Turkey’s largest city and created an alternative to ferries for crossing the Bosphorus. It has multiple safety systems, two levels, and was engineered to withstand seismic activity in the region, since Istanbul sits on the North Anatolian Fault, one of the world’s most active tectonic zones.
Beyond modernizing mobility and boosting commerce, the project stands out as the second tunnel to connect two continents, after Marmaray. The Eurasia Tunnel uses a toll system, with prices that vary by vehicle type and time of day.
The new route also cuts Bosphorus crossing times from roughly 100 minutes to about 15. The tunnel measures 45 feet in diameter and carries four lanes of traffic. For construction, engineers used a Mixshield-type tunnel boring machine manufactured by the German firm Herrenknecht AG.
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