The longest tunnel in the world. The longest tunnels in the world

The tunnels are a real miracle of architecture, which dates back to quite ancient times. As a rule, people used to use underground tunnels to hide from enemies and secretly move from one place to another. Today, tunnels are built for completely different purposes - they make it possible to shorten the route 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’s hard to imagine how long it will take to travel on foot from the beginning to the end of the Seikan Tunnel. Moreover, it is considered the longest not only among railway tunnels, but also among 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 previously. The reason for this is the great popularity of airlines, which also allow people to save time and cash. 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 Seikan is the longest in the world until the Gotthard Tunnel, which is under construction in Switzerland, is put into operation.

Gotthard railway tunnel

This structure will be the longest tunnel in the world, as its length will be 57,000 meters. The construction of this structure has been going on for 14 years and it is planned that trains will begin traveling through it in 2017. It was laid under the Saint Gotthard mountain pass, where the name of the tunnel actually came from. Its main purpose is to communicate across 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 high-speed trains will travel through this tunnel at a speed of 250 km/h, and freight trains will move at a speed of at least 160 km/h. Well, while this tunnel is still preparing to become the longest in the world, let’s look at other tunnels that are impressive in their length.

The length of this tunnel, located under the English Channel and connecting Great Britain (Folkestone) and France (Calais), is 50,500 meters. Its construction began back in 1802, but was stopped due to the political situation and hesitation on the British side. But in 1988, construction of the structure was resumed, and in 1994 the railway tunnel began to operate. The world's largest train carrying cars, called the Eurotunnel Shuttle, moves through the tunnel.

Despite the fact that the Eurotunnel is inferior to the world's longest tunnel, Seikan Tunnel, total length, it has a much larger underwater section of approximately 39,000 meters, which is 14,700 meters longer than Seikan's underwater section. Although the Eurotunnel has a special role in creating communication between Britain and the mainland, it 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 all this thanks to innovative technologies, which were used in this case.

This Swiss tunnel has a length of 34,700 meters. Both passenger and freight trains travel along it. This tunnel allows tourists to take the shortest route to the Welsh thermal resorts– in this way, over 20,000 Swiss residents visit these resorts every week.

Automotive Laerdal tunnel

This tunnel, located in Norway, is the longest among automobile tunnels. Its length is 24,500 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 ensured (if it is dawn outside, then in the tunnel there will also be an imitation of morning lighting, and if it is sunset, then there will be lighting similar to twilight light). Another positive thing is that you don’t have to pay to travel through the tunnel – it’s absolutely free.

March 1, 1880 and the construction of the railway was completed tunnel at the pass Saint Gotthard in Switzerland - the most complex engineering structure of those times, which became a symbol of the subjugation of nature by man. And today we will talk about several the world's greatest and most significant tunnels- from the already mentioned Saint 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 commander Alexander Suvorov, who crossed it with great difficulty and losses in the fall 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 significantly 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, a 16.9-kilometer-long road tunnel was opened. And now construction is underway on an even larger-scale structure at the St. Gotthard Pass - a 57-kilometer railway tunnel, which, when commissioned 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 sailing between the two largest Japanese islands died 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 – a little more than a million. For comparison, the annual volume of passenger traffic between Honshu and Hokkaido is tens of 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 centuries, and Napoleon Bonaparte himself acted as the “customer” of the project. But real progress in this direction began only after the Second World War, and 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. The tunnels (three in total: two transport and one technical) are used as railway tunnels - high-speed trains TGV Eurostar and Eurotunnel Shuttle run through them in both directions, connecting London with Paris and Brussels. Eurotunnel accounts for 67% passenger transportation between France and England.

Laerdal tunnel. Norway

Built in Norway in 1995-2000, the Lærdal Tunnel can be called the most beautiful such engineering structure on the planet. In addition, this 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 progress and relieve stress for drivers, the architects who worked on the Lärdal Tunnel divided it into four approximately equal parts with three artificial caves. Each of these grottoes has its own lighting color, which gives this engineering facility originality and beauty. You can also stop in these caves, park in special pits, and rest a little.

Oresund Bridge. Denmark, Sweden

It is not entirely logical that the list of the greatest tunnels in the world includes a bridge connecting two Scandinavian countries - Denmark and Norway. But there is no mistake in this fact, because out of the almost 12 kilometers of the length of this structure, 4050 meters are underground.

The architects of the Oresund Bridge took such an extraordinary solution for the reason that it is in this place that the glide path of planes heading to Copenhagen Airport passes, and it cannot be blocked. And ships sailing through the Öresund Strait also need space for successful navigation.

Severomuysky tunnel. Russia

On December 5, 2003, a historical event for all 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 the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, the legendary BAM - one of the greatest construction projects of Soviet times.

The construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline began back in 1938, in 1974 it was declared an all-Union shock Komsomol construction project, they began to write songs and make films about it, and ended in the expected volume only in 2003. During the creation of the BAM, 10 tunnels were dug, the largest and Severomuisky became an important one.

Marmaray. Türkiye

In October 2013, an event occurred that humanity had dreamed about for centuries, but did not believe in the reality of its implementation until last moment. The Marmaray railway tunnel was opened in Istanbul, connecting the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus Strait.

After its opening, Marmaray was integrated into the Istanbul metro system as a separate line. It is also planned to be used for transcontinental freight and passenger transport - the tunnel will become part of a global railway project to create a single track infrastructure from the UK to South Korea.

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A railway tunnel in Japan is 53.85 km long with an underwater fragment 23.3 km long. The tunnel descends to a depth of about 240 meters, 100 meters below the seabed. It lies under the Sangar Strait, connecting Aomori Prefecture on the Japanese island of Honshu and the island of Hokkaido - as part of the Kaikyo and Hokkaido Shinkansen line of the Hokkaido Railway Company. It is the deepest seabed and second longest railway tunnel in the world.

9

The railway tunnel in Switzerland is 57.1 km long (including service and pedestrian passages - 153.4 km). The northern portal of the tunnel is located near the village of Erstfeld, and the southern portal is located near the village of Bodio. After the completion of the eastern part (October 15, 2010) and the western part (March 23, 2011), it became the longest railway tunnel in the world.

8 Beijing Subway: Line 10

The high-speed rail transport system of Beijing, the capital of China, has been in operation since 1969 and has been rapidly developing since the end of the 20th century. It ranks second among metro systems in the world in terms of line length and annual passenger flow, as well as second place in peak daily passenger flow after the Moscow Metro.

7 Guangzhou Metropolitan: Line 3

The decision to build a metro in Guangzhou was made in 1989. Construction began in 1993. The first line was put into operation on June 28, 1997. In 2002, the second line was opened, in 2005 - the third and fourth. On December 28, 2013, metro line 6 was opened.

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It was built in 1987 in Sweden. The cross section of the tunnel is 8 m2.

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Within a large water management system. of the Orange River project, in the middle reaches of the river, the Hendrik-Verwoerd and Le Roux dams and reservoirs were built, designed to regulate the river flow, irrigate agricultural lands, industrial water supply, and for hydropower purposes. Part of the flow from the Hendrik-Verwoerd reservoir is transferred through a tunnel through the mountain range to the south of South Africa.

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One of the longest tunnels is located in Liaoning province. China has previously taken part in the implementation of large-scale road projects. For example, the Danyang-Kunshan Great Bridge is the longest bridge in the world.

3

Päijänne water pipeline- a conduit tunnel located in the south of Finland. Its length is 120 km, depth from 30 to 100 m from the surface. The purpose of constructing the water pipeline is to supply water to the capital agglomeration of Finland, in whose cities (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and others) more than a million people live.

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Many of us have the luxury of instant access to clean water, but few people think about what miracles of technology we can pour ourselves a glass of water. New York is one of those cities that lacks fresh water sources. As the population grew, aqueducts began to appear. In 1945, the Delaware Aqueduct appeared. Today it supplies the population of the metropolis with water by 50 percent. It is the second longest continuous tunnel in the world with a length of 137 kilometers. It was created by drilling and blasting hard rocks. The aqueduct works incredibly efficiently - 95 percent of the total volume of water is supplied independently.

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The longest tunnel in the world- Thirlmere aqueduct. Its length is 154,000 meters, construction began in 1890 and ended in 1925. Formally, it is not the longest tunnel in the world, since it is not a continuous tunnel, but it is generally accepted to consider it the longest tunnel in the world. The aqueduct was built to carry water from the Manchester reservoir, and about 250 thousand cubic meters of water passes through it every day.

The longest in the world road tunnel is - Laerdal tunnel, its length: 24.51 km.
The Lärdal tunnel is located in Norway, on the E16 highway, 200 km from the city of Bergen.
The main purpose of the tunnel is to shorten the former route from the capital of Norway, Oslo, to the city of Bergen.
To be more precise, not only to reduce, but to secure and speed up. Previously, the road between these cities passed through difficult mountain sections with serpentines, which was extremely unsafe, especially in winter; there were sections with ferry crossings on the road.
In 1975, parliament decided to design a road between Oslo and Bergen through the Filefjell mountain range, a massif with mountain peaks up to 2000 meters above sea level.
In 1995, the Norwegian Parliament confirmed previously decision made and passed a law on the construction of the tunnel. Construction of this tunnel began in 1995, and it was opened for operation in 2000.

The construction cost was US$113,000,000.
A total of 2,500,000 cubic meters of rock were removed from the mountain during the construction of the tunnel.
When constructing the structure, Norwegian engineers divided it into 4 almost equal parts. Between these parts there are large artificial grottoes where a car can be parked if necessary. This is also a kind of psychological relief for drivers - there is the possibility of stopping for rest or other purposes.

All along the road in the tunnel is illuminated by 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.
They are working in the tunnel mobile phones through special repeaters.
Fire extinguishers are attached to the tunnel arches every 125 meters.
Along the route, electronic signs are installed that signal and warn the driver in case of danger, for example in the event of an accident, deep in the tunnel.

Emergency niches have been created every 500 meters for emergency stopping of vehicles.
Photo sensors are installed at the entrance and exit of the tunnel, which, according to the program, detect the number of cars entering and exiting. This is also one of the security measures.

Interesting feature! The tunnel itself is mostly straight, essentially 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 has been created in the tunnel to clean the air from exhaust gases.