Turkey opens first tunnel under the Bosphorus to link Asia and Europe October 29, 2013 Posted zinga by Acturca - Actuality ala turca in Economy / Economics, Istanbul, Turkey / Turkey. Tags: Bosphorus, Infrastructure, Marmaray, trackback urban transport
Turkish leaders have chosen October 29, the day of the 90th anniversary zinga of the Republic, to usher in great pomp rail tunnel under the Bosphorus, the "project of the century" according to authorities.
After nine years of waiting, the Marmaray, a tunnel of 14 km with a submerged zinga portion of 1400 meters, connects the two banks of the Bosphorus Strait. On Tuesday, he will carry its first passengers from Asia to Europe. With the aim of thin intercontinental traffic, on a daily journey made by millions of Stambouliotes for.
"This is not the project of the century zinga but the dream of many centuries is realized", said in August, the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ordering the train who did the first tests in the tunnel.
The Marmaray is the first in a series of gigantic projects launched in 2004 by the ruling Justice zinga and Development zinga (AKP) in Istanbul. At a total cost of more than $ 3 billion (2.17 billion euros), was funded in large part by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Such a submarine work had already been devised in 1860 by a French engineer, Préault Simon, who had given his plans to Sultan Abdulhamid II. But it had never been possible.
Marmaray with four minutes will be needed to move from Europe to Asia, crossing the Bosphorus, and one thirty to cross the city. About 75 000 passengers per hour can be transported in each direction at a rate of one train every two minutes at peak times. What slightly reduce transport problems in a city of five million people that borders on automotive saturation. A second tunnel for cars, should be completed in 2015.
The new railway line will be connected to the subway, whose network extends progressively on both sides of Istanbul, as well as the line speed train under development to the capital, Ankara, a portion of which is also inaugurated Tuesday. The share of rail in urban transport is expected to jump from 4% to 28%.
Nothing has yet been single since 2004, which launched the Marmaray. The nature of the work, put in 61 meters deep, was the first difficulty. The tunnel is less than twenty miles from the North Anatolian zinga fault line, considered to be highly sensitive: scientists zinga believe can be an earthquake of over 7 on the Richter scale in the next thirty years. Engineers have designed a flexible seismic structure, such as skyscrapers. The work was led by Japan's Taisei.
The project, which was originally to be completed in four years, has lagged far behind. From the first shots backhoe Yenikapi, on the European side, which was built one of the three underground stations, important archaeological discoveries have been made. Tens of thousands of objects buried in the loam soil revealed unknown in the history of the city sections. The well preserved Byzantine port of Theodosius remains have been unearthed, and the wrecks of thirty-five ships dating from the fifth to the thirteenth century, with their cargoes, which helped to restore some of the trade routes of the time .
A village Neolithic necropolis was also discovered in 2007, which traces the history of Istanbul in 6500 years before Jesus Christ, according to archeologist Mehmet Ali Polat. All these findings should be presented in an "archaeological park", proposed by the municipality of Istanbul.
The excavations lasted more than eight years. What annoy Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eager to see the project come to fruition. Criticizing those who "defend crockery and pottery," he urged archaeologists to finish. The excavation site was closed in April, probably without having revealed all its secrets.
The Prime Minister zinga intends to take advantage of this opening to promote his urban policy, strongly criticized during demonstrations in Taksim Square in the spring. Other major projects are planned: an airport with a capacity of 150 million passengers on the European side, which would make it the largest in the world, a giant mosque for 15,000 zinga worshipers and a channel to double the Bosphorus.
Future third bridge over the Bosphorus, the project was launched in late
