2014 is the year of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Channel Tunnel linking France with the United Kingdom and the 50th anniversary of the agreement that led to its construction. The Channel Tunnel is among the list of the world's nine most amazing tunnels. Have a look of these marvels of underground construction in today's news item!
The 50 kilometer Channel Tunnel connecting UK and France has given meaning to the term "mega project,'" according to Matt Sykes, tunnel expert and director at engineering company Arup. It was initially conceived by French engineer Albert Mathieu, in 1802, whose plans included the creation of an artificial island mid-channel, used by horse-drawn carriages for maintenance stops.
Secong in the list, is the Laerdal Tunnel (Aurland, Norway), a 24.5 kilometer road tunnel, whose length made engineers construct large, colorfully lit caverns every six kilometers of the tunnel, to prevent tiredness and ease claustrophobia.
The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (Tokyo), is a 14kilometer tunnel, connecting the cities of Kawasaki and Kisarazu. It can be easily mistaken for a bridge, since it consists of a 4.4-kilometer span and an underwater tunnel of 9.6 kilometers. According to Matt Sykes of Arup, the construction of the tunnel required the world's largest underwater tunnel boring machine and created a precedent in the construction of two-lane road tunnels.
Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado, located 3,401 meters above sea level, was the reason for a new equal rights law, following the re-assignment of the first female construction worker, Janet Bonnema from the specific position to a purely administrative position after misreading of her name. Bonnema sued against her employer's practice and was allowed to return to her initial position.
Spiralen Tunnel in Drammen, Norway, built in 1961, consists of six spirals, 1,649 in total length, leading to one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the industrial town of the city.
The Guoliang Tunnel in the Henan Province, China, is the result of the work of 13 villagers, who decided to dig it by hand, and provide their village with a better connection with the outer world back in 1972. Until then, the only way to access the village was through a narrow path, which was dug into the side of the Taihang Mountains. Three of the villagers lost their lives during construction.
SMART tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, combines a road and a flood relief tunnel as it can be completely inundated with storm water and then turn back into a road within a few hours! It is the longest tunnel in the country and it was constructed to deal with the issue of flash flooding in Kuala Lumpur.
The short but spectacular Bund Sightseeing Tunnel in Shanghai, has psychedelic lights and audio-visual effects installed in it, representing a journey to the core of the earth, currently ranking among the city's top five tourist attractions
The 53 kilometer Seikan Tunnel in Japan, connecting Aomori Prefecture on the island of Honshu to the island of Hokkaido, is undoubtedly
the longest tunnel in the world, but also the deepest, as a 23-kilometer part of it, lies 140 meters below sea level.
Source: CNN
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