Algeria to have the longest tunnel in North Africa
After six years of construction, the excavation of the Gantas railway tunnel in Algeria was completed on the morning of 30 October. It will be the longest railway tunnel in North Africa, which will connect Khemis Miliana to El Afroune. Its delivery is scheduled for 2018.
The tunnel is located 100 kilometers west of Algiers, and consists of two separate tubes of 7,346 meters long in one lane and 7,335 meters long in the other, each for a single lane. With a total length of 14.68 kilometers, it is the longest tunnel in North Africa, and the second longest rail tunnel on the continent, behind the Hex River Tunnel, which stretches over 16.8 kilometers. km between Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.
For its implementation, Algeria had to overcome several geological challenges. The work has been entrusted to Turkish and Chinese companies, to obtain a tunnel that meets the universal standards, especially in terms of security. The China Railway Construction Corporation said that construction of the project created more than 4,100 jobs for local people.
This investment allows the Algerian government to move forward with its infrastructure development, especially in the transport sector, to diversify the country’s highly oil-dependent economy.
Source: ECNS
