Sisi to signal launch of Suez Canal tunnels within days

CAIRO – 16 December 2017: The pilot operation of the four Suez Canal tunnels in Ismailia and Port Said started and will launch in a matter of days, after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi gives the signal to start, according to Akhbar el-Yom newspaper Saturday.

Canal Authority chairman Mohab Mamesh witnessed the pilot operation of the floating bridge that connects the two banks of the Suez Canal. A number of additional floating bridges over the Suez Canal will also open soon.

Chairman of the Armed Forces’ Engineering Authority Kamel el-Wazir said that the Suez Canal tunnel is the second most important project in the region, according to Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS).

The Suez Canal tunnels project aims to ease congestion in the area due to industrial development and population growth.

According to SIS, Wazir explained that the four tunnels underneath the Suez Canal will operate as following:

The first tunnel in southern Port Said will connect Salloum on the western border with Rafah in the east through the international coastal road in the canal region.

The second set of tunnels in northern Ismailia will connect the international western border with northern Cairo through the Regional Ring Road.

The third set in Sarabium should serve the northern part of the Regional Ring Road, which will be connected to Taba through the Sarabium tunnel, Wazir said.

The fourth set of tunnels will extend from Ahmed Hamdy tunnel to connect the western international border with the southern part of the international regional road.

The length of each tunnel is about 2,850 meters with a maximum of 3,850 meters. The distance between the northern and southern tunnels is 13 meters. The tunnels also have emergency passages for individuals. Each tunnel has a height of 5.5 meters and serves one traffic direction with two traffic lanes. The establishment of the tunnels came at a cost of LE 18 billion ($1 billion), according to Akhbar el-Yom.