Built at a depth of more than 100 meters and five kilometers long, the Bosphorus Tunnel, also known as the Eurasia Tunnel, was inaugurated in Turkey in 2016.
It is a tunnel intended for vehicle traffic and connects the European continent (Kazlıçeşme district) with the Asian continent (Göztepe district) through Istanbul (Turkey). It operates in parallel with the Marmaray Tunnel, which is a railway tunnel. The Eurasia Tunnel is an underwater road tunnel that crosses the Bosphorus Strait.
A project that made it possible to ease traffic in this large Turkish city and was an alternative solution for crossing the Bosphorus without the use of ferries. It has multiple security systems, two levels and is designed to withstand the seismic activity of the region, as Istanbul is located on the North Anatolian Rift, one of the most active tectonic zones.
100 minutes of travel in just 15 minutes
In addition to being an infrastructure that modernizes travel and increases trade, this project stands out because it is the second tunnel to connect two continents, after Marmaray. The Eurasia Tunnel has a toll system, with costs varying depending on the type of vehicle and the time of passage.
With this construction, travel times to cross the Strait were significantly reduced, from 100 minutes to just 15. In addition to its length, its diameter is also impressive, reaching 13.7 meters.
A TBM Mixshield tunnel boring machine, manufactured by the German company Herrenknecht AG, was used for its construction, and it has four traffic lanes.
