An underwater tunnel, that will shorten the duration of travel for vehicles from Istanbul’s Asian side to the European, will be tested tomorrow on 8th of October. 

Asphalt work for the tunnel was completed before the first passage. The construction of U-turns in the Kazlıçeşme area on the European side, as well as underground tunnels in the Samatya and Yenikapı areas, have reached the final stage. Signboards displaying tunnel destinations have been placed on the roads between Sarayburnu and Kazlıçeşme and between Harem and Göztepe. Drivers will be able to use the tunnel after paying tolls at automatic toll collection systems. 

Traveling time reduced for 85 minutes 

The 3.34-km-long tunnel under the sea, which is also named the “Istanbul Straight Road Crossing Project” will connect two continents. The total distance of the tunnel will be 5.4 km, 3.34 km of which are under the sea. With the access roads, the Eurasia Tunnel Project’s total distance will be 14.6 km. At its deepest point, the tunnel will be 106.4 meters below the surface. With the new tunnel, the travel time between Kazlıçeşme on the European side and Göztepe on the Asian side by car will decrease from around 100 min at present during rush hour to just 15. The project is being constructed using a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model that will finally cost $1.2 billion. Some 960 mil of the amount was provided through international loans, while the remaining amount was financed by the project holders, Yapı Merkezi and SK E&K. 

According to international standardization reports, the tunnel will last at least 127 years. The mega project will be inaugurated on 20th of December.

Source: hurriyetdailynews