The Great Istanbul Tunnel () is an under-construction multi-use

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry l ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to cross the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

strait connecting the Europe side and Asia side. It will be the third and the longest tunnel crossing the Bosphorus strait, at a length of 6.5 km, surpassing the

Eurasia Tunnel The Eurasia Tunnel () is a road tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey, crossing underneath the Bosphorus Strait. The tunnel was officially opened on 20 December 2016 and opened to traffic on 22 December 2016. The double-deck tunnel connects Kumkapı o ...

at 5.4 km and the

Marmaray Tunnel The Marmaray Tunnel () is a long undersea railway tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey, beneath the Bosporus strait, linking Kazlıçeşme, Zeytinburnu, Kazlıçeşme, Zeytinburnu in Europe with Ayrılıkçeşmesi, Kadıköy, Ayrılıkçeşmesi in Asia. ...

at 13.5 km.

Project

The project was officially announced by Prime minister

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...

on 27 February 2015. The tunnel, in length and in diameter, will consist of three levels, two levels for road traffic and one level for metro lines. It will be under the sea level. Situated between Gayrettepe on the European side and Küçüksu on the

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n side, it will integrate the highways between the three airports of the city,

Istanbul Atatürk Airport Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...

Sabiha Gökçen Airport Sabiha is an Arabic word () meaning "Morning" and a female given name. People with the name include: *Sabiha Sultan (1894–1971), Ottoman princess, daughter of Mehmed VI *Sabiha Bengütaş (1904–1992), Turkish sculptor *Sabiha Gökçen (1913–2 ...

Istanbul Airport Istanbul Airport is the larger of two international airports serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city. It is the largest airport in Turkey, the largest privately-owned airport in the ...

, and the nine metro lines of the

Istanbul Metro The Istanbul Metro () is a rapid transit railway network that serves the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Apart from the M11 line, which is operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, the system is operated by Metro Istanbul, a public enterprise controlled by th ...

. The cost of the project will amount to US$3.5 billion. The financing of the construction will be on the

build–operate–transfer Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession (contract), concession from the public ...

basis.

Construction

The RV ''Fugro Scout'', a Singapore-flagged research/survey vessel of length and beam, started

soil survey Soil survey, or soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information. Background Soil surveys apply the principles of soil science and draw heavily from geomorpholog ...

works in Bosphorus on 28 July 2017 in order to determine the exact tunnel route. Construction began in 2018, and was expected to be completed by 2023. Due to some issues in land acquisition, the project is now expected to be completed by 2028.

References

Tunnels in Istanbul Toll tunnels in Turkey Railway tunnels in Turkey Bosphorus crossings Transport infrastructure under construction in Turkey Undersea tunnels in Europe Undersea tunnels in Asia {{Tunnel-stub

Project

Construction

See also

References