Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi inaugurated last Sunday four new tunnels built under the Suez Canal. These majors projects are part of big projects aimed at linking Sinai Peninsula to the mainland.
ECPC key supplier for Suez Canal development
ECPC, our subsidiary in Egypt, is a key supplier for the Suez Canal Corridor development project.
The ambitious expansion Suez Canal projects include many large infrastructure developments in and around the canal, such as the construction of an industrial zone, fish farms, a technology valley, seven new tunnels between Sinai, Ismailia and Port Said, improvement of five existing ports, and a new canal parallel to the Suez Canal. The new canal will increase the canal capacity by allowing two-way traffic along part of the route and larger vessels overall.
Ismailia Road Tunnel
ECPC supplied the Ismailia two tunnels with precast service gallery elements below the main road. This new product manufactured by ECPC enables servicing for utilities and provides an escape route for emergencies in both tunnels. The total length of each tunnel is 5 km. The ECPC service gallery elements are 2.5 m high, 3.1 m wide and 2 m long.
Moreover, ECPC produced and delivered segments with a diameter of 5.5m for Ismailia tunnel ventilation shafts.
New economic opportunities for the region
In the future, the tunnels at Port Said and Ismailia will link the Sinai Peninsula closer to African land. These underground links will open up new economic opportunities: instead of spending up to 5 hours in long car queues for the ferry, crossing the Suez Canal via the tunnels now takes less than 20 minutes. Economical grow in both banks is definitely anticipated as soon as tunnels will be in operation.
