LONGEST UNDERWATER HIGHWAY TUNNEL OPENS IN TAIHU COMMUNITY, CHINA

Posted by on
An aerial photo taken on September 5, 2021 of the Nanquan section of the just-opened Taihu tunnel in east China's Jiangsu Province. Credit: Li Bo/Xinhua via Getty Images

BY Yong Xiong and Karla Cripps, 

After nearly four years of construction, China's longest underwater highway tunnel is now open to vehicle traffic. At a length of 10.79 kilometers (6.65 miles), the Taihu tunnel stretches under Lake Taihu in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, about 50 kilometers east of Shanghai.

According to government officials in Jiangsu, the tunnel was built at a cost 9.9 billion yuan (about $1.56 billion). Construction began on January 9, 2018.

Over 2 million cubic meters of concrete were used to build the two-way tunnel, which has six lanes and is 17.45 meters wide, reports China's official news agency, Xinhua.

The ceiling of the tunnel has been outfitted with colorful LED lights, designed to prevent driver fatigue.
A view of the LED ceiling installed in the 10.79-kilometer tunnel under Lake Taihu.

The tunnel is part of the 43.9-kilometer Changzhou-Wuxi Highway, which opened to the public on December 30, 2021. It provides an alternative expressway for travelers journeying between Shanghai and Nanjing, Jiangsu's capital.

Connecting the expressways of Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou, it was built to alleviate traffic pressure on the cities next to Lake Taihu while promoting the economic development of the cities in Yangtze River Delta area.

So how does the Taihu tunnel stack up against its global counterparts? The world's longest underway highway tunnel is Norway's 14.3-kilometer twin-road Ryfast tunnel, which runs between the city of Stavanger and the municipality of Strand.

The underwater tunnel portion of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, a vehicle highway that travels under Tokyo Bay, is 9.6 kilometers.

In terms of underwater tunnels in general, though, the top honor goes to the Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France by rail. Its submerged portion runs for 37.9 kilometers, the longest of any underwater tunnel in the world.

Thank you for reading. Kindly share also.

Comments

Post a Comment

Drop your comments. Thank you

NOW ON SALE WORLDWIDE!!!!!! THE FOUR STONES - The Battle of the Four Realms - BY UCHECHUKWU DANIEL

MORE COMMUNITY HEADLINES

Image

EVERYONE LIKES POPCORN BUT IS IT HEALTHY?

By Lara Drayer Popcorn is a healthy, whole-grain, antioxidant-rich snack food b ut a medium bucket of movie theater popcorn has about three days worth of saturated fat
Image

MOTHER NAMES DAUGHTER BORN IN A HELICOPTER, SKY (CIELO)

By Julia Jones Maria Josefa Pingo Sanchez named her daughter Cielo, Spanish for sky. After weeks of steady rain, a ray of sunlight: A woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl inside a rescue helicopter as she was being lifted from a flooded village in northern Peru, the Peruvian Army said. Maria Josefa Pingo Sanchez, 20, was rescued on Tuesday afternoon, and her baby girl came into the world about 3:50 p.m., 15 minutes before the helicopter touched down at a hospital. The baby was named Cielo, "sky" in Spanish, according to state-run news channel TV Peru. Mother and baby were lucky. The floods in Peru have claimed the lives of 106 people, government news agency Andina reported. Overall, more than a million people have been affected by the floods: Those include more than 361,981 children and 20,659 pregnant women. Tenant Col. EP Edward Albuquerque Cordova, who rescued Pingo, said in a video released by the Peruvian Army that...
Image

PROPHET WITH HAIR REACHING HIS TOES - PHOTO TAKEN IN KIRIKIRI TOWN

By Andy Akhigbe. I finally got to visit the Kirikiri Maximum Prison this morning in company of my secondary school friend of the 80s. He is in charge of the Prison Ministry of his church and we have had this trip to the prison cancelled a couple of times until this morning. A detailed account of my encounter with the prison inmates would come on Storried shortly.
Image

AISHA BUHARI PRESENTS GIFTS TO '2022 FIRST BABY' IN BWARI COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, ABUJA

Aisha Buhari, first lady, has presented gifts to the “first baby of the New Year”, said to have been delivered around 12am in the federal capital territory (FCT). Hosea Bemi and his wife, Esther, who received gifts from the first lady, had their baby on Saturday at the General Hospital in Bwari, FCT. According to NAN, Aisha was represented by Mairo Al-Makura, special assistant to the president on the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM). Speaking during the visit, she urged mothers to “take adequate care of their babies to ensure healthy growth and development through immunization, exclusive breastfeeding and provision of proper nutrition”. Thank you for reading. Kindly share also.
Image

MENINGITIS AFFECTED COMMUNITIES RECEIVES 500,000 DOSES OF VACCINES

Nigeria has received 500,000 doses of meningitis C containing vaccine to combat the epidemic in the country, the WHO has said. The doses were sent by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision, an organisation that coordinates the provision of vaccine during outbreak emergencies. Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, the WHO Country Representative to Nigeria, said this in a statement in Abuja on Friday. He said the vaccines, funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have been administered in Zamfara and Katsina States where the disease was most endemic. Alemu said an additional 820,000 doses of the meningitis C conjugate vaccine donated by the UK government to WHO was currently being sent to Nigeria. He said in the last week, the ICG also sent 341,000 doses of the meningitis C-containing vaccine to Niger Republic. He said this was because over 1,300 suspected cases of the disease had been found in the region particularly in districts that border with N...
Image

SAPELE COMMUNITY PROTESTS OVER BEDC LICENSE AND TO INTRODUCE PREPAID METER

By Godwin Oghre There was total collapse of commercial and socio-economic activities in Sapele, recently, as over half of the population took to the streets in protest against the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, for failure to improve on power supply to the area since it took over from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, over six years ago.
Image

NO MORE STREET TRADING IN UMUAHIA CITY CENTER - COUNCIL BOSS

By Joe Akwarandu, Umuahia The Umuahia North local government area says its current move to end the perennial street trading and indiscriminate loading of vehicles and tricycles within the Isigate axis was aimed at tackling the traffic snarl in the city; not to dislodge traders. Orient Daily gathered that the council began the enforcement of order prohibiting street trading and indiscriminate loading and picking of passengers within the congested Isigate, the city center on April 1. Mostly affected areas were Warri Street, Owerri and Umuwaya roads as well as other adjoining streets within the city centre where petty traders and commercial vehicle operators have converted to markets stalls and mini parks. Speaking after inspecting the extent of compliance, the deputy chairman of the council, Eze Okwulehie, who personally supervised the execution of the order said that the measure was to ensure smooth flow of traffic. The local government had last week announced th...
Image

DOCTORS WARN HAJJ PILGRIMS FROM LAGOS COMMUNITIES TO STAY AWAY FROM THE SUN

The medical team of the Lagos State Government, presently in Saudi Arabia to cater for the health needs of Lagos pilgrims, has warned them to avoid moving around in the sun, saying it is dangerous to their health because it can affect the blood system, dry out water in the body fast, cause headache, pains, weakness and dehydration.
Image

PHOTOS: APOSTLE NKECHI ANAYO ILOPUTAIFE CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY WITH ORPHANS

The General Overseer of Faith Revival Ministries Word Outreach (FRMWO) also known as Victory Christian Church, Apsotle Nkechi Anayo Iloputaife paid a visit to Arrow of God Orphanage to celebrate her birthday. The children were so delighted as she shared with them her birthdays cake and other wonderful gifts. Another highlight of the event was that the PFN Ojo province honored our her with an Excellence in leadership and Humanitarian award on the 26th of January. The event themed apostle appreciation day was indeed glamorous as there was a feast of music, dance and entertainment. Nkechi Francis Anayo-Iloputaife is a Nigerian charismatic leader, pastor and televangelist. In 1985, along with her husband, she co-founded Victory Christian Church. She remained one of the leaders of the church until the assassination of her husband, who was the overall head of the church. After his death in 1995, she assumed his previous role, overseeing the entire activities in the church. She ...