World’s Deepest Underwater Tunnel Opens Amid Controversy
Tuesday, October 29th, 2013October 29, 2013
Prime Minister Recep Erdogan of Turkey today opened a $4-billion, 8.5-mile (13.6-kilometer) rail tunnel in Istanbul. At some 200 feet (60 meters) below the floor of the Bosporus, the Marmaray is the world’s deepest underwater tunnel. The Bosporus is a strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and is part of a waterway that flows from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The Bosporus is also generally regarded as the dividing line between Europe and Asia.
The opening ceremony for the Marmaray Tunnel also marked the 90th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey by Kemal Ataturk. The tunnel is part of Prime Minister Erdogan’s grand vision to bind Europe and Asia closer together and forge a trade route stretching from Europe to China. On a more prosaic level, the rail line through the tunnel is designed to ease traffic congestion in Istanbul, a city of some 9 million people. The ambitious prime minister is also building an airport that will rank as the world’s biggest, a canal that will run parallel to the Bosporus, and a third suspension bridge that will rise high above the Golden Horn, an inlet of the Bosporus.
The Marmaray Tunnel was begun in 2004. It was supposed to take four years to complete but was plagued by a series of delays and cost overruns. After digging got under way, engineers discovered the remains of a Byzantine port dating from the A.D. 300′s. Archaeologists working on the site prevented the project from proceeding at full speed. They uncovered traces of the city wall of Constantine the Great, the remains of several ancient ships, and the earliest evidence of settlement at what is now Istanbul, dating to 6,000 B.C.
Even so, engineers question whether the tunnel is being opened too soon, simply to satisfy Erdogan’s demand that it coincide with the anniversary of the nation’s founding. According to some engineers, the tunnel lacks an electronic security system and could possibly flood. A senior figure at the city’s Chamber of Architects and Engineers warned, “it would be murder to open it under these conditions.” Another engineer noted, “I wouldn’t get in the Marmaray, and nobody should until these [safety] issues are addressed.”
In May and June, Erdogan faced weeks of protests when he announced another grand building project–replacing one of Istanbul’s few inner-city green spaces with a shopping mall. The mall was to be within a reconstructed Ottoman military barracks, which once stood on the site. The preservation of Gezi Park was the initial focus of the protests. However, when riot police used tear gas and nightsticks on demonstrators, the protests spread to cities across the country. According to experts on the domestic scene in Turkey, the unrest stemmed from the widespread belief that Erdogan, a devout Muslim, has become increasingly authoritarian and was attempting to impose a religious and conservative lifestyle in a country with secular laws. His plans for the mall were quietly shelved.
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