New Turkey tunnels for Istanbul and Izmir

New tunnel connections are to be built in Istanbul and Izmir, along with a new bridge in Izmir. Work is due to start shortly on the Grand Istanbul Tunnel Project. This will be a three level tunnel and should help lower congestion in Istanbul, which suffers amongst the worst traffic jams of any city in the world.
May 31, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
New tunnel connections are to be built in Istanbul and Izmir, along with a new bridge in Izmir. Work is due to start shortly on the Grand Istanbul Tunnel Project. This will be a three level tunnel and should help lower congestion in Istanbul, which suffers amongst the worst traffic jams of any city in the world.


Yuksel Project International will carry out the necessary consultancy, engineering and preparatory services. Test drilling will be the first stage of the work to evaluate the geology of the planned route. The tunnel will stretch 6.5km underneath the Bosporus Strait and will connect the European and Asian sides of the city.

The link will feature two decks carrying traffic in either direction under the Bosporus while the third level will carry a rail connection. The new tunnel and bridge in Izmir will be linked and will form part of a new route around the city. Izmir’s congestion problem can be severe at peak periods and the new connections are intended to cut traffic delays.

Road Structures

Related Content

  • New Argentina highway construction work
    January 11, 2019
    Construction is underway for Argentina’s new Mendoza-San Juan Highway – Mauro Nogarin reports The rehabilitation and maintenance works of more than 3,300km of routes is now underway in Argentina. This followed on after the takeover of six new road corridors under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, which took place in August 2018. The rehabilitation and maintenance works are being carried out prior to the start of the main projects, which will include the construction of highways. Building the
    Read More
  • New Bosporus crossing construction commencing
    June 3, 2013
    Work to construct the new Bosporus crossing in Turkey is now underway. This will be Istanbul's third bridge over the Bosporus and is aimed to open for traffic within two years. Construction is being carried out by a consortium that includes Italian company Astaldi and Turkish firm IC Ictas. The project is expected to cost in the region of US$5.83 billion. The bridge will carry eight highway lanes as well as two rail lines. When complete it will be longest suspension bridge in the world that carries rail lin
    Read More
  • Korean bridge construction poses challenges
    February 23, 2012
    On South Korea's southern coast, an innovative highway sea crossing is providing many engineering challenges
    Read More
  • Korean bridge construction poses challenges
    April 5, 2012
    On South Korea's southern coast, an innovative highway sea crossing is providing many engineering challenges The new Busan-Geoje crosses from South Korea's second city to its biggest island and is slightly shorter than the 12km of the country's famous Incheon project. In addition the main cable stay bridge for the Busan-Geoje project has a 475m span rather than the 800m of the Incheon central span. However the 8.2km Busan-Geoje project faces perhaps greater technical challenges and also includes a second b
    Read More

Highlighted Content