World’s first ship tunnel back on track with £260m mega-project to swerve deadly waters through MOUNTAINS to begin soon
PLANS for the world’s first ship tunnel that will pass through treacherous coastlines and dodge deadly waters are back on track.
Construction work for the incredible Stad Ship Tunnel will now begin after the £260million mega project was halted due to the Covid pandemic.
The Stad peninsula in Norway is home to rough tides and unpredictable weather – making vessels wait out on the harbour for days until they get a green light to sail.
For decades, the turbulent waters in the region have impacted maritime trade – and even killed many sailors.
Desperate seafarers are forced to carry their small boats on land using timber logs to avoid the dangerous waters.
However, that is not an option with large commercial vessels.
To solve the problem and boost maritime trade, Norwegian officials planned to build an extensive tunnel.
The mile-long safe passage will be carved directly through the peninsula, allowing cargo and passenger ships to pass through safely.
Ships will access the tunnel from the north in Selje, with southern access via the Moldefjord – where the Stad Peninsula is at its narrowest.
The entry to the underground passage will be controlled by traffic lights.
But to avoid any clashes, ships will be given time slots by the Vessel Traffic Control – just like planes that land at airports.
They would also have to follow a speed limit of five knots, or 5.8mph – which means five ships an hour can pass through the tunnel.
The only exception is speedboats that can cruise at 8 knots, allowing them to cross in about ten minutes.
To burrow a path through the mountain, about three million cubic metres of rock will need to be blasted and removed.
The Stad ship tunnel will not only be an impressive feat of engineering.
It is also poised to become a major tourist attraction, particularly for those traveling on the Norwegian coastal route.
Visitors will likely flock to see this unique structure and experience passing through the world’s first full-scale ship tunnel.
The exact date of the construction is still unknown but it is predicted to begin in 2025.
An estimated four to six years will pass before the project can be completed.
If things sail smoothly, the Stad tunnel will be open and operational by 2030.
Meanwhile, China is busy digging beneath the mountains to build the world’s longest motorway tunnel in an ambitious three billion pound project.
The groundbreaking 13-mile-long tunnel, named Tianshan Shengli, will cross one of the longest mountain ranges in the world. slashing travel times to just a few minutes.
The tunnel is set to open to traffic in October 2025 and will cut travel time through the Tianshan Mountains to about 20 minutes.
It will also slash the 300-mile journey from Urumqi to Korla, a major city in southern Xinjiang, to less than two hours.
Construction on the project began in 2016 and is due to complete in 2031.
A whopping £3billion is being spent to build this tunnel by Xi Jinping‘s government.