The tunnel itself. The longest tunnels in the world

Japan's Seikan Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world. this moment. Translated from Japanese, Seikan means "Magnificent spectacle." Its length is 53.8 kilometers. The structure was laid at a depth of more than 240 meters and connects the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu.

The construction of the underwater facility began in 1960 and was supposed to be completed in the 70th year, but the construction dragged on for almost 18 years. The tunnel was only opened in 1988. One of the main problems with this structure is that sea ​​water constantly gets into the tunnel, so a large number of pumps are constantly working in it, which pump out up to 16 tons of sea water every minute.

The Channel Tunnel (Eurotunnel) was for some time the longest tunnel in Europe. Its length is 50.5 kilometers, it was put into operation in 1994, the construction was carried out for 7 years by the efforts of more than 13 thousand workers. For the first time, the idea of ​​creating such a structure was put forward as early as 1802 and several attempts were made to build a Eurotunnel, but all attempts to political reasons have not been completed.

The trains running through this large tunnel carry not only passengers, but also private cars. The maximum speed of the train is 350 kilometers per hour. Thanks to the Eurotunnel, the train journey from London to Paris is 2 hours and 30 minutes.

However, the longest tunnel in the world will be built no later than 2017. This will be the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is currently under construction in Switzerland, its length should be 57 kilometers. Its construction has already begun, more than 3.5 thousand workers are involved in the work, who work around the clock. It passes through the St. Gotthard Pass and connects Swiss Zurich and Italian Milan. Thanks to this tunnel, travel time will be reduced by 50 minutes to 2 hours and 50 minutes. The project is estimated at 15 billion euros.

The longest tunnel in Moscow is the Lefortovo tunnel. It lies under the Yauza River in the historic district of Lefortovo.

Technical specifications

The length of the Lefortovo tunnel is 3.2 km, it is the 5th longest tunnel in all of Europe. In one direction of movement, the road section is a combination of an overpass and a tunnel, in the other, at a depth of 30 meters, a continuous tunnel runs.

The tunnel is part of the third transport ring and was opened in 2003.

tunnel of death

Archival entry. Things got much better in 2018.

The facility is equipped with all the necessary security systems: video cameras, telephone and loudspeaker communications, smoke and fire detectors, emergency exits, etc. Nevertheless, almost from the moment of its opening, the Lefortovo tunnel has been considered the most dangerous place in the capital. 2-3 cars are broken here every day.

What happens in the Lefortovo tunnel, which Muscovites began to call the "tunnel of death"? Someone believes that lighting is to blame, which does not allow drivers to correctly assess the distance, psychologists say that once in a confined space, drivers try to “break free” as soon as possible and unknowingly exceed the set speed, this leads to an accident, and Gormost’s specialists they blame everything on unorganized and irresponsible motorists who grossly violate traffic rules.

However, these explanations are not convincing. After all, there are others in Moscow long tunnels, for example, North-West, which lies under the favorite recreation area of ​​Muscovites Serebryany Bor. This section of the underground road is only a few meters shorter than the Lefortovsky tunnel, but the accident rate is much lower.

In addition, on the web you can find great amount video recordings of accidents from the Lefortovo tunnel, which show that the car suddenly starts to wind literally out of the blue, and then crashes into a nearby car or a concrete wall.

Participants in accidents also tell unusual things: someone feels “grave cold” and simply cannot drive a car, losing control of himself and the road. Someone is cut off by a car that mysteriously disappears, literally dissolving in the air, immediately after the accident. A human figure suddenly appears in front of other drivers, some talk about some otherworldly growing rumble that occurs in the tunnel, and someone falls into a strip of fog visible only to them.

Who is the "hooligan" in the Lefortovo tunnel? Maybe the former prisoners of the Lefortovo prison, built back in 1881, maybe Franz Lefort himself, an ally of Peter the Great, who died of a fever in 1699, or maybe the cadets of the Red Barracks Corps, who in 1917 fought with the Bolsheviks.

Parapsychologists say that Lefortovo is in a geopathogenic field. They argue that plants grow poorly here, wither on the vine, animals get sick and die. However, all these facts can be explained by the poor environmental situation in the immediate vicinity of the largest transport route.

It is difficult to say what is happening in the tunnel, but as the experience of many drivers shows, if you strictly adhere to established rules, do not exceed the speed, do not change lanes, and even more so, do not overtake the cars in front underground, then you can significantly reduce the risk of the possibility of a "ghost attack" and calmly overcome the insidious tunnel of Death.

To be honest, I have never visited very long road or rail tunnels, but I remember well the feeling of driving under the Thames at Dartford Crossing. This is a major intersection in London in one direction, cars go along the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, and in the opposite direction through two car tunnels, it is difficult to imagine the movement through a 24-kilometer tunnel.
So, the top 10 longest tunnels in the world

1 Gotthard Base Tunnel 57.00 km

The largest tunnel under construction in the history of Europe, with a planned length of 57 km, the structure will become the longest railway tunnel in the world. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.

2 Seikan 53.90 km

The longest today is the Japanese Seikan Tunnel, connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. The tunnel was opened to traffic on March 13, 1988. It has the titles of the longest railway tunnel and the longest underwater tunnel.

3 Eurotunnel 49.94 km

Eurotunnel under the English Channel between Folkestone (Kent, UK) and Calais (France). Although this tunnel is inferior in total length to the Seikan Tunnel, its underwater section (about 39 km) is 14.7 km longer than the underwater section of the Seikan Railway Tunnel. The Channel Tunnel officially opened in 1994.

4 Lötschberg 34.70 km

The longest land tunnel is Lötschberg on the Bern-Milan line, which is located in Switzerland. Its length is 34 kilometers. It connects the area of ​​Bern and Interlaken with the area of ​​Brig and Zermatt.

Railway tunnel in Spain connecting Madrid and Valladolid by high-speed route. The tunnel opened in December 2007. Has the title of the longest tunnel in Spain.

6 Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel 25.81 km

An underground railway tunnel in Japan linking Tokyo and Aomori. The tunnel was opened in 2002 and at the opening had the title of the longest underground railway tunnel.

7 Hakkoda 26.5 km

The longest land tunnel in Hakkoda is located in Japan - the length of the railway section is 26.5 kilometers.

8 Lerdal Tunnel 24.50 km

The longest road tunnel connecting the municipalities of Laerdal and Aurland in Norway is 24.5 kilometers long. Opened in 2000.

9 Daishimizu Tunnel 22.20 km

A railway tunnel in Japan connecting Niigata and Tokyo. During the construction of the tunnel, a fire and smoke broke out, which claimed the lives of 16 workers.

Wushaoling Tunnel 10 21.05 km

Double rail tunnel in Gansu province in northwest China. Has the title of the longest railway tunnel in China

The longest railway tunnel in Russia is the Severo-Muisky Tunnel, its length is 15.3 km.
The longest tunnel of the future is the Japan-Korea Tunnel, 187 kilometers long, which will connect Japan and South Korea, negotiations on its construction have been going on for a long time.

did not philosophize slyly and simply asked in: It would be interesting to read about tunnels, railway and others. The longest, the most difficult, etc. Norway, Switzerland, other countries ... in China, they seem to be building very impressive tunnels now.

To begin with, remember, well, now let's get down to the records. And we'll start with the longest tunnel.

On the border of Switzerland and Italy, the construction of the Gotthard railway tunnel is being completed. It is the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT, Gotthard-Basistunnel) that will connect Switzerland and Italy, and will also become the longest and deepest tunnel in the world. The southern portal is located near the village of Bodio, and the northern one is near the village of Erstfed. It was created for railway communication through the Alps.

Today, the longest underground route is the Japanese Seikan Tunnel, connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. Its length, excluding aqueducts, is 53.6 kilometers. Its other well-known counterpart, which ranks second, is the Eurotunnel between England and France, its length is about 51 km.

Upon completion of work on the Gotthard tunnel, the length of this handsome man will be 57 kilometers, and taking into account service and pedestrian passages - 153.4 km. And then it will become the most-most tunnel in the world.

The tunnel consists of two parallel underground highways for two-way traffic, interconnected by galleries every 325 m, along which trains will travel in opposite directions. Inside the tunnel there will be two emergency railway stations connected to the surface by emergency shafts.

In general, the idea of ​​building such a tunnel was proposed by the government back in 1947, but the first construction option was prepared only in 1962. but main problem the design has become - which tunnel to choose, one with two single-track or two separate single-track? However, the decision on this issue dragged on for an extremely long time and was finally made in 1998, when an additional tax on heavy transport was introduced in the country.

Clickable

But in fact, the first exploration work was started much earlier, back in 1993, and the main one - only in 2001. In total, about 3,500 workers were hired, which includes not only builders, but also geologists, engineers and planners. Work was carried out constantly for seven days a week and 24 hours a day. For tunneling in rocks, both several tunneling complexes and drilling and blasting were used. The tunnel has two common "trunks" under which trains will run in both directions. Along the route, there are two railway stations, where it will also be possible to change trains. By the way, the total construction costs are just over 10 billion US dollars.

Regular traffic through the tunnel will open in 2016. Experts say that the most advanced technologies are used in construction, special drilling rigs with a disk diameter of 10 meters began work with opposite sides. On October 15, 2010, at the sight of all world television companies, the last 3 meters of rock collapsed - the tunnel was completely laid.

And now I will tell you about the longest water tunnel. For some reason, he is in first place on Wikipedia for the longest tunnels. The longest water tunnel is in England, it began to be built back in the 18th century, and now its length is 154,000 meters - this is the Thirlmere aqueduct

It was built from 1890 to 1925

Thirlmere Dam Raven_Crag

Recently, it so happens that the word "most" is increasingly used in relation to China - the most populous country, the fastest growing economy, one of the most ancient civilizations on Earth. Not surprisingly, the world's widest tunnel was also built in China. The opening of the world's widest tunnel took place on October 31, 2009.

The tunnel, which runs along the bottom of the Yangtze River and connects Shanghai to Chongmingdao Island, is part of a 12.6 billion yuan ($1.84 billion) tunnel and bridge project spanning 25.5 kilometers.

The inner diameter of this tunnel structure is 13.7 meters, the length is 8900 meters. During the construction of the tunnel by Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. a drilling rig with a diameter of 15.43 meters was used, which is also an absolute world record.

The road from Shanghai to Chongmingdao Island through a tunnel that carries a railway line and a six-lane highway will take just over twenty minutes.

Chongmingdao Island is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and covers an area of ​​1,200 square kilometers, which is equal to 20 percent of the entire territory of the Shanghai region.

Due to the poor transport interchange, the development of the region was hampered, its share in Shanghai's total GDP was only one and a half percent.

The Chinese authorities are planning to turn Chongmingdao into a model of a modern territorial unit with a developed infrastructure and meeting all environmental requirements. It is also expected that the new transport system help attract more investment to the region.

And here are some more unusual tunnels: The Tower Tunnel, Japan One of the most interesting buildings in Japan is the Gate Tower in Osaka, Japan. This building is the result of a rare compromise between the landowner and the Japanese government.

Through the 6th, 7th and 8th floor of this 16-story office building there is a freeway running right through the building. On the ground floor, the floor information says that floors 6-8 are "leased by the Hanshin Expressway". The tunnel is not connected to the building in any way. It rests on special supports and is enclosed in a special design, which helps to protect the building from noise and vibrations.

Here is another interesting example:

Tunnel Log, California, USA

Tunnel Log - "Log Tunnel" is a tunnel that was cut into a giant fallen sequoia in National Park Sequoia, California, USA. The tree, which is 84 meters high and 6.4 meters in diameter, fell in 1937 due to natural causes and blocked the road. The following year, park staff cut a tunnel 2.4 meters (8 ft) high and 5.2 meters (17 ft) wide into the tree, making the road open again.

And again, China:

One of the most unusual roads in the world is the Guolian tunnel, which is located high in the mountains of Henan province in China.

This tunnel is only a few decades old, but during this time, Golian has become one of the most famous roads of the tracks and all thanks to its unusual location and amazing design! The fact is that the Golian tunnel was laid in rock and is a bizarre cave, more than a kilometer long!

Read. We have already discussed this.

And now let's look at the deepest tunnel in the world:

Turkey has successfully tested a recently completed railway tunnel under the Bosphorus, connecting the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, reports Reuters. Its length is 13.6 km, the maximum depth is 56 m. In August 2013, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan launched the first test train through the tunnel.

The end of the construction of the tunnel was postponed many times, now its official launch is scheduled for October 29 - the anniversary of the formation of modern Turkey. This tunnel will be the first mega project completed in Istanbul.

This tunnel is part of a large-scale project$5 billion Marmaray, which includes upgrades to the existing commuter rail system. According to the government's plans, 1.5 million people will use the 76 km lines daily.

Meanwhile, the interval of trains under the Bosphorus will be 2 minutes, and throughput tunnel will reach 75 thousand passengers per day.

The construction of the tunnel began in 2004. Japanese-Turkish consortium, financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

It should be noted that the construction of this tunnel was initially an extremely complex project from a geological point of view, since the strait is located in a seismically active zone.

The highest road tunnel:

In the province of Sichuan in the southwest of China, the construction of a tunnel through Mount Trola has begun. This facility is part of the Sichuan-Tibet highway complex. The tunnel will be the highest in the world, as it will be at around 4240-4380 m above sea level.

Currently, the construction of an entrance to the tunnel with a length of 14.06 km is in full swing. This facility is located in the east of Trola mountain. The length of the tunnel itself will be 7 km. The laying of this road section will be completed in four years. Investments in the project are estimated at 1.12 billion yuan ($172 million). After the tunnel is put into operation, the travel time through Mount Trola will be reduced by at least 2 hours to just over 10 minutes.

Recall that the construction of a highway from Sichuan to Tibet with a length of 2415 km has become the most difficult in the world. The road crosses 12 rivers and 14 mountains at an altitude of 4000-5000 m above sea level.

From 2011 to 2015 Chinese authorities will allocate $954 billion to develop the country's transport infrastructure. Most of allocated funds will be spent on the construction of new roads, including high-speed ones. Thus, in the next five years, 108,000 km of high-speed highways will be laid in China. By the end of 2015, they will unite more than 90% of all cities in the country with a population of more than 200,000 people. Currently, the total length of roads in China exceeds 3.9 million km.

Oh yes, I completely forgot, but what is the longest car tunnel in the world?

The Lerdal Tunnel is a road tunnel that connects the cities of Lerdal and Aurland and is part of the E16 highway between Oslo and Bergen. At 24.5 kilometers, the tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the world.

Construction cost 120 million euros. It was opened on November 27, 2000 by King Harald V of Norway.

Such natural conditions in Norway, as a mountainous area, the risks of rockfalls, the northern climate, many fjords create difficulties for reliable road communication. In addition, ferry transport, which is widespread in this country, cannot always provide reliable year-round communication. Therefore, in Norway, in the last 20 years, in transport construction, the emphasis has been on building bridges and laying tunnels (the deepest Eiksund road tunnel in the world is also located in Norway). The construction of the tunnel was carried out from 1995 to 2000.

The tunnel is divided into four sections with the help of special grottoes.

These grottoes serve as a turning point for cars, including road trains, and as a place to stop for a rest.

The design lighting of the grottoes, as well as the arrangement of the route, make the trip through the tunnel not so monotonous and “boring”, the duration of the trip through the tunnel is about 20 minutes.

The tunnel uses a large number security measures. Emergency phones are installed every 250 meters along the route, fire extinguishers are located every 125 meters, in addition to 3 grottoes, 15 more turning points are made.

In the Ledardal tunnel, for the first time in the world, air purification facilities are used in addition to air ventilation.

The tunnel has an average traffic of about 1000 cars per day, and is also free of charge. The mountains through which the tunnel passes reach a height of 1600 meters.

A trip through the tunnel, thanks to thoughtful safety measures, does not seem boring, monotonous, and does not lull the drivers. Half an hour passes - and after the stone rough monophonic walls, the beautiful landscapes of central Norway appear in all their harsh beauty.

Lerdal is famous for the Salmon Center, an old street with houses from the 17th-18th century and the equally famous Borgund Stave Church (30 km away), which was built in 1180 (!!!) and has been perfectly preserved to this day.

At the local information center, you can get comprehensive information about the bus schedule to the church, and offers for hotels and guest houses. It is not very clear what Lerdal is by local standards - a city or a large village, but it is very, very comfortable there. You can go around the town by bike in just 5 minutes, or just walk around the town-village.

Reference: Is the Lördal Tunnel really the longest road tunnel in the world? At first, I don’t want to believe this, but the statistics and figures convince:

So, the top 10 longest tunnels in the world:

1. Gotthard Base Tunnel 57.00 km

The largest tunnel under construction in the history of Europe, with a planned length of 57 km, the structure will become the longest railway tunnel in the world. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015

2. Seikan 53.90 km (Japan) - is today

the longest railway tunnel connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. The tunnel was opened to traffic on March 13, 1988. It has the titles of the longest railway tunnel and the longest underwater tunnel.

3. Eurotunnel 49.94 km, laid under the English Channel between Folkestone (Kent, UK) and Calais (France). Although this tunnel is less than the Seikan Tunnel in overall length, its underwater section (about 39 km) is 14.7 km longer than the underwater section of the Seikan Railway Tunnel. The Channel Tunnel officially opened in 1994.

4. Lötschberg 34.70 km - the longest land tunnel on the line Bern - Milan, located in Switzerland. Its length is 34 kilometers. It connects the area of ​​Bern and Interlaken with the area of ​​Brig and Zermatt.

5. Guadarrama Tunnel 28.37 km - a railway tunnel in Spain connecting Madrid and Valladolid by a high-speed route. The tunnel opened in December 2007. Has the title of the longest tunnel in Spain.

6. Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel 25.81 km - an underground railway tunnel in Japan, connecting Tokyo and Aomori. The tunnel was opened in 2002 and at the opening had the title of the longest underground railway tunnel.

7. Hakkoda 26.5 km - The longest land tunnel in Hakkoda is located in Japan, the length of the railway section is 26.5 kilometers.

8. Lerdal Tunnel 24.50 km

9. Daishimizu Tunnel 22.20 km - Railway tunnel in Japan connecting Niigata and Tokyo. During the construction of the tunnel, a fire and smoke broke out, which claimed the lives of 16 workers.

10. Wushaoling Tunnel 21.05 km

Double rail tunnel in Gansu province in northwest China. Has the title of the longest railway tunnel in China

The longest railway tunnel in Russia is the Severo-Muisky Tunnel, its length is 15.3 km.

The longest tunnel of the future is the Japan-Korea Tunnel, 187 kilometers long, which will connect Japan and South Korea, negotiations on its construction have been ongoing for a long time.

In Moscow, the leader in its length is the Lefortovo tunnel. It lies in the southeastern part of Moscow and is part of the third transport ring. The longest tunnel in Moscow has a length of 3.246 kilometers, it is also one of the largest tunnels in Europe. The tunnel is located under the Yauza River and Lefortovsky Park. The Lefotovsky tunnel has seven traffic lanes (three traffic lanes to the north and four lanes to the south).

Each stripe is three and a half meters wide. Lefortovo tunnel refers to deep tunnels (up to 30 meters), such a depth is dictated by the need for noise and vibration absorption of a large traffic flow.

On average, approximately 3,500 vehicles pass through this tunnel per hour, and it copes with this intensity perfectly. But, during peak hours, the flow increases to seven to eight thousand, which is the cause of frequent accidents, including those with human casualties. According to statistics, this tunnel is one of the most dangerous sections of roads in Moscow in terms of the number of accidents, in this regard, he received an unflattering nickname - "the tunnel of death."

The reason for such a high danger lies in a banal violation traffic rules associated with the speed limit and ignoring the solid dividing line between traffic lanes, excluding rebuilding from row to row. The maximum allowed speed in the tunnel is 60 km per hour, but the "record" for speeding is 236 km per hour.

As you know, the shortest path from point A to point B is a straight line. But what if it is impossible to lay a road in a straight line due to a mountain, river or sea blocking the path? This problem is often solved by building a tunnel underground. Modern tunnels are a real challenge to nature, their complex design is a masterpiece of engineering. In addition, some tunnels are also distinguished by an unusual appearance, due to the peculiarities of the landscape or the imagination of the architect. Here is a selection of the most impressive tunnels from around the world.

10 PHOTOS

The material was prepared with the support of the site les-kodru.com.ua - environmentally clean materials for construction. Building houses is not that difficult. like building tunnels, but it also requires careful selection good materials. One of these is deck board, used in the arrangement of verandas, terraces and gazebos.

The project to create a tunnel under the Bosphorus, connecting the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, started in 2004 and cost the state $3.5 billion. The total length of the tunnel is 13.6 km. Interestingly, the sections of the tunnel, which are at a depth of 60 meters below sea level, have flexible connections to absorb the energy of earth tremors. The name "Marmaray" comes from the Turkish words "Marmara" meaning the Sea of ​​Marmara and "ray" meaning rail.

The Eisenhower Road Tunnel is notable for being one of the tallest tunnels in the world. Its height above sea level is 3.401 meters.

A railway tunnel that runs through the Alps and provides freight traffic from the north to the west of the country. At the moment, it is the longest railway tunnel in the world - its total length is 57.1 km. Although the construction work has already been completed, the opening of the tunnel is planned only in June this year.

This underground railway tunnel is an amazing botanical phenomenon. The green arched tunnel was created not by human hands, but by the natural interweaving of trees and bushes. The Tunnel of Love is a popular place of pilgrimage for tourists, especially couples in love. In 2014, Japanese director Akiyoshi Imazaki made the film "Klevan: Tunnel of Love", the plot of which is directly related to the Ukrainian tunnel.

Railway tunnel under the English Channel connecting France and Great Britain. The length of the tunnel is about 51 km, however, by TGV train, the Eurotunnel can be reached from Paris to London in just 2 hours and 15 minutes.

This tunnel, which runs 647 meters under the Huangpu River and connects the Bund and Pudong districts, is very popular with tourists. The fact is that the Bund tunnel is not so much a way to travel as an exciting attraction for entertainment. The optical technologies used in it, in combination with musical accompaniment make the trip through the Bund Tunnel an unforgettable experience.

Tunnel in the rock, punched under the Jewish king Hezekiah to provide the city with water. It served to supply water from the Gion spring to the Siloam reservoir. Today, a visit to the Siloam tunnel is included in the program of most excursions in Jerusalem. The tunnel itself is included in the complex of the archaeological park "City of David".

This tunnel, carved into the slopes of the Bernese Alps, goes directly to the Aletsch Glacier, located next to the beautiful peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. Leaving the Jungfraujoch tunnel, you can immediately admire the dizzying panorama of the landscape of Switzerland, France and Germany.

The Guoliang Road Tunnel is a real landmark of China. The tunnel, about 1200 meters long and only 4 meters wide, was built by 12 local residents. Interesting feature tunnel is that it is partially open - this was done for the purpose of lighting.

The longest road tunnel in the world, the Lärdal Tunnel runs through mountains and forms part of the motorway between Oslo and Bergen. The total length of the tunnel is 24.5 km.