Istanbul – Italferr was awarded a contract ($5.3 million) for the supervision of the Eurasia Tunnel works and design review. Eurasia Tunnel is an undersea road tunnel that will connect the European side of Istanbul with the Asian one. The Italian FS Group engineering firm thus consolidates its presence in Turkey, where it is also planning the subway line between Ankara and Esenboga Airport. About 15 km long, of which 3.4 below sea level at a depth of about 25 meters, the Eurasia Tunnel will cross the Bosphorus Strait in parallel with the Marmaray rail tunnel. Once completed, it will be possible to reach the other side in 15 minutes, compared to the current 100 minutes. Italferr, in a consortium with the Turkish company Altinok, beat Yuksel Proje, the leading design company in Turkey, the German Bernard Ingenieuria GmbH and the Austrian Geoconsult GmbH. The project, worth almost $ 12 million, was financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with a loan of $150 million dollars. (9Colonne)
