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After nearly four years of construction, China's longest underwater highway tunnel is now open to vehicular traffic.
With a length of 10.79 kilometers, the Taihu Tunnel runs under Lake Taihu in east China's Jiangsu Province, about 50 kilometers east of Shanghai.
Aerial photo taken on September 5, 2021 of the Nanquan section of the newly opened Taihu Tunnel in east China's Jiangsu Province.
Credit: Li Bo / Xinhua via Getty Images
According to Jiangsu government officials, the tunnel was built at a cost of 9.9 billion yuan (about US $ 1.56 billion).
Construction began on January 9, 2018.
More than 2 million cubic meters of concrete were used to build the six-lane, 17.45-meter-wide two-way tunnel, reports China's official Xinhua news agency.
The tunnel roof is equipped with colored LED lights, designed to prevent driver fatigue.
View of the LED ceiling installed in the 10.79-kilometer tunnel under Lake Taihu.
Credit: FeatureChina / AP
The tunnel is part of the 43.9-kilometer Changzhou-Wuxi Expressway that opened to the public on December 30, 2021. It provides an alternative route for commuters traveling between Shanghai and Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu.
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Connecting the Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou expressways, it was built to relieve traffic pressure in the cities near Taihu Lake and promote the economic development of cities in the Yangtze River Delta area.
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How does the Taihu Tunnel compare to its global counterparts?
The longest motorway tunnel in the world is Norway's Ryfast Tunnel at 14.3 kilometers, connecting the city of Stavanger and the municipality of Strand.
The underwater tunnel stretch of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, a motorway for vehicles traveling under the bay, is 6 miles long.
However, when it comes to underwater tunnels in general, the highest honor goes to the Channel Tunnel or Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France by rail.
Its submerged part runs 37.9 kilometers, the longest of all the underwater tunnels in the world.
China Tunnels