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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.
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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.
And with a length of 13.7 miles, the Tianshan Shengli tunnel will become the longest tunnel in the world that man has ever made.
The improved connectivity is expected to boost regional economic and social development, facilitate resource development, and strengthen Xinjiang’s position within the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Economists predict that the tunnel’s completion will significantly benefit trade and economic growth in this underdeveloped region of Xinjiang.
Xu Tianchen, an expert from The Economist Intelligence Unit, explained the strategic importance of the tunnel.
He said the tunnel could be a game-changing infrastructure for Central Asia that would spark many economic activities.
The expert added: “Completion will certainly benefit trade and economic growth in the underdeveloped part of Xinjiang.
“Central Asia provides a reasonable return-risk mix, especially with its rich energy reserves and acceptable security situation.
“Central Asia provides a reasonable return-risk mix, especially with its rich energy reserves and acceptable security situation.”
Apart from economic benefits, the tunnel will also give China leverage in terms of geopolitics.
Xinjiang is a strategic area that has borders with eight countries including Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, a record-breaking undersea passage is set to form the world’s longest and deepest road tunnel – at a whopping £36 billion cost.
The incredible mega-project will help cut a 21-hour journey by half via the 16-mile crossing.
Dubbed The Rogfast, this tunnel will stretch across Norway and help connect two important cities.
The incredible undersea subway will run between the municipalities of Randaberg and Bokn in Rogaland county.
A large body of water separates these two spots and requires locals to use ferries to get across.
This route would help to connect the southern city Stavanger to the more northern city of Bergen, according to World Highways.
Stavanger is crucial for its North Sea oil industry and Bergen is also known for oil and fishing.
The E39 motorway, which goes along this route, stretches 680 miles and takes around 21 hours to drive across.
The Western roadway runs between the southern city of Kristiansand and Trondheim in the north.
This remarkable tunnel will help millions of people who live southwest of these two major cities commute and travel.
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