Sinai Tunnels.. Dream Comes True!

President Abdel Fatah El Sisi will inaugurate tomorrow a set of development projects in the East Suez Canal development zone in northern Ismailia.

One of the most iconic projects among which, is the Sinai tunnels. Egyptian engineers have completed four tunnels which are expected to activate economic development in the Sinai by easing the movement of people and merchandise to the peninsula and increase trade with Arab Gulf states.

According to the National Authority of Tunnels (NAT), the southern Port Said road and railway tunnels under Suez canal will connect between Sinai peninsula and Nile Delta through several land axis and railways .

This project consists of three tunnels two of them are road and the last for railway with an inner diameter of 10,8 meters and its outer diameter is 11,8 meter ,the maximum hight is 5.5 meters.

Egypt has invested more than $1 billion in building tunnels under the Suez Canal to connect the Egyptian mainland with Sinai for the first time.

The project adds a fixed axis ,linking between Nile Delta and Sinai Peninsule , it correrponds Al-Qantarah elevated bridge, Ahmed Hamdy tunnel axis and Al-Fardan bridge axis as well.

In particular, the project is considered as an additional and reciprocal axis with Al-Qantara elevated axis above the Suez canal.

The tunnel is considered as one of the infrastructure projects at the national standard to serve national projects like the international coastal road project, new axial port in eastern Port Said , and Sinai Peninsula development project

The tunnels are projected to serve the touristic projects established east of Suez Canal and to develop Sinai Peninsula which represent an important strategic depth for Egypt.

Construction began in June 2016, almost a year after Egypt dug a parallel channel to the Suez Canal to allow two-way traffic in the strategic maritime passageway.

“The plan is part of Egypt’s strategy to turn the Suez Canal region and Sinai into the country’s next investment hub”, said Hesham Emara, a member of the Economic Affairs Committee in Egypt’s parliament.

“Easing the movement of goods to and from Sinai is important for the execution of the strategy,” Emara said.

The next stage is to increase infrastructure in the region and provide greater services for residents.

Before construction of the tunnels, vehicles headed to the Sinai had to wait for hours on the west bank of the Suez Canal to be ferried across the canal.

“Agricultural crops travelling to Sinai used to rot before they could reach their destination inside the peninsula,” Emara said.

The tunnels will shorten travel between the west bank of the Suez Canal and the east bank to less than 20 minutes.

Egypt bought four tunnel boring machines from Germany to construct the tunnels. The two tunnels to be used by road vehicles, which start in the northern part of the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, are approximately 4km long, mostly below the Suez Canal. They emerge south of Port Said.

The tunnels are being constructed by four major Egyptian construction companies. Hundreds of workers and engineers are working on the tunnels day and night.

Egyptian economic planners said they could not attract investment to the Suez Canal region unless they developed the needed infrastructure to ease the movement of goods to markets in Africa, the Arab Peninsula or the Levant.

“The cost of transport is a determining factor for the attraction of investments,” said Rashad Abdo, an economics professor at Helwan University. “The presence of these tunnels will highlight the huge investment opportunity in the region, especially with the wonderful location of the Suez Canal area and Sinai.”

“It will also put an end to the presence of the terrorists,” said retired army General Mohamed al-Shahawi. “Development is the best counterterrorism strategy, in fact.”