March 1, 1880 and the construction of the railway was completed tunnel on the pass Saint Gotthard in Switzerland - the most complex engineering structure of those times, which became a symbol of the subordination of nature by man. And today we will talk about a few the world's greatest and most significant tunnels- from the already mentioned St. Gotthard in the Alps to the Marmaray line under the Bosphorus, which opened in October 2013, each of which marked a new milestone in the development of their country.
Gotthard tunnel. Switzerland
The Saint Gotthard Pass in the Alps is known in Russia thanks to the feat of the commander Alexander Suvorov, who crossed it with great difficulty and losses in the autumn of 1799. And in 1880 it became much easier to overcome the mountains in this area, because the construction of a 15-kilometer railway tunnel, one of the most famous such structures in the world, was completed there. It greatly simplified the movement of goods across Europe, and also became one of the keys to the economic well-being of Switzerland.
In 1980, not far from the century-old railway tunnel, an automobile tunnel 16.9 kilometers long was opened. And now, construction is underway on an even larger structure at the St. Gotthard Pass - a 57-kilometer railway tunnel, which, when it enters service in 2017, will become the longest in the world.
Seikan Tunnel. Japan
In 1954, a tragic event occurred in Japan - during an unprecedented storm in the Sangar Strait between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, five passenger ferries sank, which led to the death of more than a thousand people. And this was far from the first such disaster in this place - ships plying between the two largest Japanese islands have been dying regularly for centuries. To finally solve this problem, the Japanese government decided to build a tunnel under the strait.
Work on this structure began in 1964 and lasted more than twenty years. Opened in 1988, the 54-kilometer Seikan became the longest railway tunnel in the world and still holds this record.
In 1988, about 3 million passengers used the services of the Sangar Tunnel, in 1999 - 2 million, and in 2009 - just over a million. For comparison, the annual volume of passenger traffic between Honshu and Hokkaido is ten times greater. But as a freight road, this tunnel has no worthy competitors.
Eurotunnel. France-UK
It's hard to believe, but the idea of building a tunnel between France and Great Britain appeared in the late eighteenth - early nineteenth century, and Napoleon Bonaparte himself was the "customer" of the project. But real progress in this direction began only after the Second World War, while the construction itself started only in December 1987.
The grand opening of the Eurotunnel took place on May 6, 1994 with the participation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and French President Jacques Chirac. Tunnels (only three: two transport and one technical) are used as railways - high-speed trains TGV Eurostar and Eurotunnel Shuttle run through them in both directions, connecting London with Paris and Brussels. The Eurotunnel accounts for 67% of passenger traffic between France and England.
Lerdal Tunnel. Norway
Built in Norway in 1995-2000, the Lerdal Tunnel can be called the most beautiful such engineering structure on the planet. In addition, it is the longest road tunnel in the world, because its length is 24.5 kilometers.
In order to at least slightly diversify the route of advance and relieve stress on the drivers, the architects who worked on the Lerdal tunnel divided it into four approximately equal parts with three artificial caves. Each of these grottoes has its own color of illumination, which gives originality and beauty to this engineering object. You can also stop in these caves, park in special septic tanks, and relax a bit.
Oresund bridge. Denmark, Sweden
It is not entirely logical that a bridge connecting two Scandinavian countries - Denmark and Norway - was included in the list of the greatest tunnels in the world. But there is no mistake in this fact, because out of almost 12 kilometers of the length of this structure, 4050 meters pass underground.
The architects of the Øresund Bridge made such an extraordinary decision for the reason that it is in this place that the glide path of aircraft heading to Copenhagen Airport passes, and it cannot be blocked. Yes, and ships going through the Øresund Strait also need space for successful navigation.
Severomuysky tunnel. Russia
On December 5, 2003, a historic event for the whole of Russia took place in Buryatia - the Severomuysky tunnel 15 kilometers 343 meters long was opened there. It became not only the longest in Russia, but also marked the end of construction Baikal-Amur Mainline, the legendary BAM - one of the greatest construction projects of the Soviet era.
The construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline began back in 1938, in 1974 it was declared an all-Union shock Komsomol construction site, they began to write songs and make films about it, and ended in the estimated volume only in 2003. When creating the BAM, 10 tunnels were pierced, the largest and the most important of which was Severomuysky.
Marmaray. Turkey
In October 2013, an event happened that Mankind had been dreaming of for centuries, but did not believe in the reality of which until the very last moment. In Istanbul, the Marmaray railway tunnel was opened, connecting the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus.
After the opening, Marmaray was integrated into the Istanbul metro system as a separate branch. It is also planned to be used for transcontinental freight and passenger traffic - the tunnel will become part of a global railway project to create a single track infrastructure from the UK to South Korea.
The world's longest and deepest tunnel under the Swiss Alps has finally opened! To mark this milestone, in this article we will take a look at the longest railway tunnels in the world.
So let's go!
10. Gumzangl Tunnel, South Korea - 20.3 km / 20.3 km
(Geumjeong Tunnel)
Gumzangl - ranks tenth in the list of the longest railway tunnels in the world. It is part of the Seoul-Busan High Speed Rail. A tunnel buried in the mountains connects the Nopo area with Busanjin Station in Busan.
Also, Gumzangl is the longest railway tunnel in South Korea. It is located at a depth of more than 300 m from the ground. It is 14 meters wide and 12 meters high. The tunnel belongs to the South Korean Railway Authority.
The construction of the tunnel, which was completed in 2009, took place in three sections. The first two sections were opened in 2008. The last section connecting Nopo-dong and Hwameong-dong was completed in February 2009.
9. Wushaoling Tunnel, China - 21.05 km
(Wushaoling Tunnel)
The Wushaoling Railway Tunnel in northwest China's Gansu Province was the country's longest tunnel until the end of 2007. Located on the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway crossing the Wushaoling Mountains. After the tunnel was put into operation, the road between Lanzhou and Urumqi was reduced by 30.4 km and became fully double-track.
The tunnel consists of two parallel threads, laid at a distance of 40 meters from each other. The portal from the Lanzhou side is located at an altitude of 2663 m, the opposite portal is at an altitude of 2447 m. During the construction of the tunnel, a new Austrian method of tunneling was used, the tunnel equipment allows trains to pass at a speed of up to 160 km / h. The eastern line of the Ushaoling Tunnel was put into operation in March 2006, the western - in August 2006. The total construction cost was 7.8 billion yuan.
22.221 km
(Daishimizu Tunnel)
Daishizu Tunnel, Japan. Photo: Nihongarden / Wikimedia Commons
A railway tunnel on the Jōetsu Shinkansen high-speed line at the border of Gunma and Niigata prefectures.
In 1978, the construction of the Dai-Shimizu Tunnel was completed. This tunnel was dug specifically for the Joetsu Shinkansen line, which was to be completed in 1982. This tunnel was the longest tunnel in the world. During construction, a fire broke out in the tunnel, which resulted in very strong smoke - 16 workers died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Daishizu Tunnel reduced the travel time between Niigata and Tokyo to about one hour and forty minutes, three hours faster using the regular Joetsu line.
In addition, during the construction of the tunnel, drinking natural water was discovered. mineral water, which is still sold in bottles to this day.
24 km
(Wienerwald Tunnel)
Wienerwald Tunnel, Austria. Photo: Line29 / Wikimedia Commons A 13.35 km railway tunnel near Vienna, which has been in operation since December 9, 2012, and runs under the northern part of the Wienerwald between Gablitz and Mauerbach. This section of the new section with a speed of up to 250 kilometers per hour between Vienna and St. Pölten is part of the Austrian Western Railway.
The section Vienna-St. Pölten, the current four-way and largest railway corridor in the Vestbahn, has received two new high-speed arms extending far north of the original line. The largest superstructure is the tunnel that crosses the Wienerwald mountains.
At 11 km from the western portal of the Wienerwald Tunnel, a double-tube tunnel (a tunnel consisting of two connected single-track pipes) was built, and the rest is a double-track single-tube section. The construction of the single-pipe section began in autumn 2004 with the help of blasting and drilling. The drilling of the tunnel was completed two years later, the structural work was completed in February 2010, and road construction began in the summer of 2010.
The Wienerwald Tunnel is only part of the tunnel complex: its eastern (Viennese) portal ends with an underpass to a 2.2 km tunnel with two additional lines for the old Westbahn (which has already been in operation since December 2008) and the Lainzer Tunnel - single-pipe double-track tunnel 11.73 km long, which opened in 2012). The east portal of the Lainzer Tunnel branches into two portals. A total of 24 km of the Wienerwald and Lainzer Tunnel allow travelers on the Westbahn to visit Vienna's new main station. This tunnel is the longest tunnel in Austria.
6. Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel, Japan - 25,810 km
(Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel)
The Iwate-Ichinohe Japanese Underground Rail Tunnel is part of the Tohoku Shinkansen line linking Tokyo with Aomori. At the time of its opening in 2002, it was the longest land tunnel in the world, but in June 2007 it was surpassed by the Swiss Lötschberg Tunnel.
The tunnel is located 545 km from Tokyo Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, halfway between Morioka and Hachinohe. Preliminary work on the construction of the tunnel began in 1988. Construction began in 1991. The tunnel began to function at the time of the opening of the railway in 2002. The maximum depth is about 200 m.
The tunnel passes through hilly terrain near Mount Kitakami and Ou. The Mabuchi and Kitakami rivers are located near the Tokyo Tunnel Port.
Iwate-Ichinohe is a horseshoe-shaped, single-pipe, double-track structure. Cross section dimensions: 9.8 m (width) x 7.7 m (height). The tunnel rises at a 0.5% gradient from Tokyo Port for about 22 km and then descends at a 1% gradient to Aomori Port. During its construction, a new method of Austrian tunneling (New Austrian Tunnelling method; NATM) was used.
26.455 km
(Hakkoda Tunnel)
Hakkoda Tunnel, Japan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons The railway tunnel, with a total length of 26.445 kilometers (16.432 miles), is located in northern Japan in the central prefecture of Aomori. It extends across the Hakkyoda Range and links the village of Tenmabayashi with the city of Aomori.
The Hakkoda Tunnel is part of the northern Tohoku-shinkansen line and is located between Shichino-Budawa and Shin Aomori stations. Preliminary work on the creation of the tunnel began in August 1998. On February 27, 2005, it surpassed the Iwate-Ichinoe Tunnel of the same Tohoku Shinkansen line to become the longest land tunnel in the world. After only two months, this title was taken away from him by the Swiss Lötschberg Tunnel, which lost this title thanks to the Gotthard Base Tunnel that opened in 2016. However, the Lötschberg Tunnel is mostly single-track, while the Gotthard Base Tunnel is double-track, which is why it remains the longest double-track, single-tube overland railway tunnel in the world.
The tunnel began to function in 2010.
4. Guan Jiao New Tunnel, China - 32,645 km
(New Guanjiao Tunnel)
New Guan Jiao Tunnel, China. Photo: Wikimedia Commons This double-pipe railway tunnel is located on Line 2 of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Guanjiao Mountains, Qinghai Province. The total length of the tunnel is 32.645 km (20.285 miles), making it the longest railway tunnel in China.
The tunnel was designed by the China Railway First Survey and Design Institute. The new Guan Jiao Tunnel was designed for two parallel single-track tunnels with travel speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour (99 miles per hour). The total duration of construction was 5 years. The tunnel was built in difficult geological conditions and at high altitude, exceeding 3,300 meters (10,800 feet) above sea level. Work on its construction began in 2007 and was completed in April 2014. The tunnel was opened on December 28, 2014.
The northeast portal of the tunnel (37.1834°N 99.1778°E) is in Tianjun County, the southwest portal (37.0094°N 98.8805°E) is in Wulan County.
3. Eurotunnel / Channel Tunnel, UK-France - 50 km
(Channel Tunnel)
Eurotunnel, UK-France. Photo: 4plebs.org Linking the UK to mainland Europe (portals to Folkestone, Kent and Pas de Calais in northern France), the tunnel has the longest underwater section in the world at 37.9 kilometers (23.5 miles).
Despite the fact that this tunnel is a miracle of the modern era, the idea for its construction belongs to the French engineer Albert Mathieu, who in 1802 proposed to build a tunnel under the English Channel. His plans included the creation of an artificial island in the middle of the canal, where horse-drawn carriages could stop for maintenance.
“This is a mega project. It has revolutionized Europe's geography and helped solidify high-speed rail as a viable alternative to short-haul flights,” said Matt Sykes, tunnel expert and director of engineering at Arup.
Interesting fact : despite the fact that both the British and the French began work on the tunnel at the same time, the former did more work.
53,850 km
(Seikan Tunnel)
Seikan Tunnel, Japan. Photo: Bmazerolles / Wikimedia Commons A unique feature of Japan's Seikan Tunnel is that its 23.3 kilometers (14.2 miles) section lies 140 meters (460 feet) below sea level. Until the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the Seikan was the longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world.
It spans the Tsugaru Strait, connecting Aomori Prefecture on the island of Honshu with the island of Hokkaido. Work on the tunnel began in 1964 and was completed in 1988.
Interesting fact: In 1976, construction workers stumbled upon a patch of soft rock, causing water to rush into the tunnel at a rate of 80 tons per minute. The leak was neutralized only after two months.
57 km
(Gotthard Base Tunnel)
Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland. Photo: Matthieu Gafsou / www.time.com European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande, attended the opening ceremony of the grandiose Gotthard Base Tunnel in June 2016, during which colorful surreal scenes were demonstrated with costumed dancers, songs and fireworks.
Located at a depth of 2,300 meters (7,545 feet, almost 1.5 miles), the tunnel cuts travel time between Zurich, Switzerland and Milan by an hour.
The 57 km tunnel runs between Erstfeld in the north and Bodio in the south. According to the Swiss Travel System, trains reaching speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph) complete it in 20 minutes.
Commercial operation of the tunnel began on 11 December. On that day, the first regular passenger train left Zurich at 06:09 local time and arrived in Lugano at 08:17.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel took the title of the longest railway tunnel in the world from the 53.9-kilometer north-Japanese Seikan Tunnel and pushed the 50.5-kilometer tunnel between the UK and France to third place.
Interesting fact: during the construction of the tunnel, 3200 kilometers of copper cable were used, the length of which would be enough from Madrid to Moscow.
The longest road tunnel in the world is the Lördal Tunnel., its length: 24.51 km.
The Lerdal Tunnel is located in Norway, on the E16 motorway, 200 km from the city of Bergen.
The main purpose of the tunnel is to shorten the former path from Oslo, the capital of Norway, to the city of Bergen.
To be more precise, not only to reduce, but to secure and accelerate. Previously, the road between these cities passed through difficult mountainous sections with serpentines, which was extremely unsafe, especially in winter, there were sections with ferry crossings on the road.
In 1975, the parliament decided to design a road between Oslo and Bergen through the Filefjell mountain range, an array with mountain peaks up to 2000 meters above sea level.
In 1995, the Norwegian Parliament confirmed earlier decision and passed a law on the construction of a tunnel. In 1995, the construction of this tunnel began, and it was opened for operation in 2000.
The construction cost was US$113,000,000.
In total, 2,500,000 cubic meters of rock were removed from the mountain during the construction of the tunnel.
During the construction of the structure, Norwegian engineers divided it into 4 almost equal parts. Between these parts there are large artificial grottoes where a car can park if necessary. It is also a kind of psychological relief factor for drivers - there is the possibility of stopping for rest or other purposes.
All along the road in the tunnel is illuminated with light with a bluish tint, in the grottoes the light is bright blue with orange illumination from below, which is close to the color of sunlight.
Emergency telephones for rescuers are located every 250 meters.
Mobile phones operate in the tunnel due to special repeaters.
Every 125 meters, fire extinguishers are attached to the arches of the tunnel.
Along the way, electronic displays are installed that signal and warn the driver in case of danger, for example, in the event of an accident, deep in the tunnel.
Every 500 meters, emergency niches have been created for an emergency stop of cars.
At the entrance and exit of the tunnel, photo sensors are installed, which, according to the program, detect the number of cars that have entered and left. This is also one of the security measures.
An interesting feature! The tunnel itself is mostly straight, in fact 25.5 km of straight road. In Norway, and especially near Bergen, there are almost no straight sections of roads, and drivers in the tunnel began to exceed the speed limit. In order to record violations, devices were installed to measure the speed of cars moving inside the tunnel.
Forced ventilation was created in the tunnel to clean the air from exhaust gases.
The tunnels are a real miracle of architecture, which dates back to quite a long time ago. As a rule, earlier people used underground tunnels for shelter from enemies and secret passages from one place to another. To date, tunnels are being built for completely different purposes - they allow you to shorten the path of a train or car, and also connect different countries. Moreover, there are underground structures that are of considerable size. So what are the longest tunnels in the world, and where are they located?
Seikan Railway Tunnel
This tunnel, located in Japan and connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, is currently the longest in the world - its length is 53,900 meters. It is even difficult to imagine how long it will take to make a walking trip from the beginning to the end of the Seikan Tunnel. Moreover, it is considered the longest not only among the railway, but also among the underwater tunnels. The longest tunnel in the world began its work in 1988. Approximately $360,000,000 was spent on its construction.
Nowadays, this tunnel is not used for its intended purpose as often as it was before. The reason for this is the great popularity of airlines, which also allow people to save time and money. But we can confidently say that the construction of this structure has led to the fact that Japan is still a strong and united country. It is worth noting that the Seikan is the longest in the world until the Gotthard Tunnel, which is being built in Switzerland, is put into operation.
Railway Gotthard Tunnel
This structure will be the world's longest tunnel, as it will be 57,000 meters long. The construction of this facility has been underway for 14 years and it is planned that trains will begin their movement on it in 2017. Its laying was carried out under the mountain pass of Saint Gotthard, from where the name of the tunnel actually came from. Its main purpose is communication through the Alps by rail.
The Gotthard Tunnel is designed in such a way that trains move through it in the opposite direction. It is assumed that the movement of high-speed trains through this tunnel will pass at a speed of 250 km/h, and freight trains will move at a speed of at least 160 km/h. In the meantime, this tunnel is still preparing to become the longest in the world, let's consider more tunnels that impress with their length.
The length of this tunnel, located under the English Channel and connecting the UK (Folkestone) and France (Calais), is 50,500 meters. Its construction was started back in 1802, but was stopped due to the political situation and hesitation on the part of the British side. But in 1988, the construction of the structure was resumed, and in 1994 the railway tunnel began to operate. The largest train in the world moves through the tunnel, which transports cars and is called the "Eurotunnel Shuttle".
Although the Eurotunnel is inferior to the world's longest Seikan Tunnel in terms of overall length, it has a much larger underwater section of approximately 39,000 meters, which is 14,700 meters longer than the Seikan underwater section. The Eurotunnel, although it has a special role in creating a connection between Britain and the mainland, is considered unprofitable from an economic point of view.
Mountain Tunnel Lötschberg
It is the longest land tunnel, which, compared to other similar structures, is quite young, since it was built in 2006 and began to be used in 2007. It took only two years to build it, and it's all thanks to innovative technologies, which were used.
This Swiss tunnel has a length of 34,700 meters. It is used by both passenger and freight trains. This tunnel allows tourists to take the shortest route to the Welsh thermal spas - in this way, more than 20,000 Swiss residents visit these resorts weekly.
Car Lerdal Tunnel
This tunnel, located in Norway, is the longest among the automobile. Its length is 24500 meters. This tunnel was developed according to modern standards. It consists of four parts, each of which is illuminated in a special way - the effect of natural lighting is provided (if it is dawn on the street, then in the tunnel there will also be an imitation of morning lighting, and if it is sunset, then there is lighting similar to twilight light). The good thing is that you don't have to pay to travel through the tunnel - it's absolutely free.
Recently, the official opening of the tunnel through the Alps to Switzerland took place, the construction of which took 17 years. The length of the Gotthard base tunnel is 57 kilometers, which makes it the longest in the world. Moreover, since in some places the maximum height of the mountains above the tunnel is 2300 meters, it is not only the longest, but also the deepest in the world.
Europe's largest rail project is the Crossrail high-speed rail system, but the tunnel section is only 42 kilometers long. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, on the other hand, is only 3 kilometers longer than Japan's Seikan Tunnel and 7 kilometers longer than the Eurotunnel between Britain and France, both of which carry rail passenger traffic. In addition, among all tunnels of any type in the world, Gotthard now ranks 9th.
If we add up all the actually used branches and forks that make up the Gotthard Base Tunnel, then its total length, including various service forks and crossings, will be 152 kilometers. In addition, the entire length of the tunnel lies on the same level, there are no ups and downs.
The original idea to build this tunnel appeared 68 years ago, but plans have been rewritten many times for countless reasons. When the construction was nevertheless finally approved, up to 2,400 people worked at the sites during the rush hour. And during the entire construction period, 9 people died.
Engineers and tunnellers had to make their way through many various types rocks, including granite and sedimentary rocks. About 80 percent of the work was done with huge drilling machines. The laying of the remaining 20 percent was carried out by explosive methods. In total, 31.1 million tons of rock were mined.
When the laying of the continuous under-rail foundation began, this task required the efforts of 125 workers who worked in three shifts for three years. This resulted in the use of 131,000 cubic meters of concrete, 290 kilometers of under-rail track and 380,000 cross beams (struts).
The tunnel connects the municipality of Erstfeld with the city of Bodio. Every day, 325 trains will pass through it, 260 of which will be freight trains (moving at a speed of 160 km/h), and the remaining 65 will be passenger trains (moving at a speed of 200 km/h). Passenger train speeds are expected to increase over time and eventually 250 km/h will become the standard. Thanks to this, the journey between Zurich and Lugano, which are located in the northern and southern parts Erstfeld and Bodio, respectively, will shorten by about 45 minutes.