Abu Dhabi opens more sections in tunnel project

Abu Dhabi authorities opened more sections of a Dh5billion tunnel project to traffic on Friday as they are pushing ahead with plans for a full completion towards the end of this year or in early 2011.

Officials said more than 80 per cent of the entire project has been completed and they expect the tunnel and surface roads to be fully operational within two to four months nearly four years after the project was launched.

The parts which were opened on Friday are located between Khalifa, Hamdan, Salam and Mina streets in the heart of the capital while the tunnel itself has yet to be opened for traffic, officials in Abu Dhabi municipality said.

“This project will largely contribute to easing traffic congestions in the city……it will also improve the environment by reducing emissions as the tunnel means much fewer cars will be on the surface road,” said Abdullah Saeed al Shamsi, director of the infrastructure division at the municipality.

The Salam street tunnel on the capital’s eastern flank had been due to be completed at the end of 2010 but was delayed because of technical and topographical reasons, according to the municipality.

“The project will be fully commissioned at the end of the year or in early 2011…..there has been a delay in some areas but this is normal in such big projects anywhere,” said a municipality official.

He cited such factors as a large network of power and water cables and pipes, which he said had to be avoided during the construction process.

Another factor is that the tunnel passes under a densely populated area, which means it is being constructed in a difficult topographical environment.

South Korea’s Samsung Construction is carrying out the project, which will also link the mainland to the nearby Reem Island, where at least 100,000 inhabitants will live. The causeway to the island has already been completed.

More than 2,000 workers have been involved in the construction of the three-km tunnel, which starts from the eastern entrance of Abu Dhabi city and runs under Alsalam street towards Port Zayed on the western tip of the capital.

Around two kilometres of the tunnel would be embedded nearly 15 metres underground while the rest would be open and near the surface level.

Officials said the tunnel is part of a long-term blueprint by Abu Dhabi to expand its inhabited areas and road networks to cope with a sharp rise in the population, which officials expect to nearly triple in the next 20 years

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