Works for ‘sister of Marmaray’ to start

TAMER TOĞANAŞ ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Works for the Eurasia Tube Tunnel Project are set to start in Bosphorus after a 14-meter giant rotary excavator was assembled and prepared to start drilling. AA Photo

The assembly of the 14-meter high giant rotary excavator for the Eurasia Tube Tunnel Project, dubbed “the sister of Marmaray Project” has been completed.

“It will start digging below the Bosphorus shortly,” Transportation Minister Lütfi Elvan said.

This tube tunnel will be only for highway vehicles, he said, adding, “About 90 thousand vehicles will pass through the tunnel daily and will have two tiers. With the shortening of the transportation period, the historic peninsula will experience a significant reduction in air pollution and fuel consumption.” 

This project will cost more than 2 billion Turkish Liras and excavations are proceeding fast, the minister said. The distance between Kazlıçeşme and Göztepe will be down to 15 minutes from the current 100 minutes.

“This excavator will dig the 3.4 kilometers distance between Haydarpaşa Port and Cankurtaran 106 meters below the Bosphorus. We have assembled the giant excavator of 1,500 tons and 130 meters length at a depth of 40 meters,” Elvan said. 

This tunnel will enable vehicles in the axis of Bostancı-Kadıköy to pass to the axis of Sirkeci-Yenikapı-Zeytinburnu. The 14.6-kilometer long project will start at the Florya-Sirkeci coastal road and end in the Göztepe Junction of the Ankara State Highway. Elvan said this tunnel will be the sixth largest tunnel of the world and the passage fare will be the equivalent of 4 dollars plus VAT.