Miami port tunnel

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The Miami Port Tunnel would travel beneath Government Cut, a man-made channel finished in 1905.
The Miami Port Tunnel would travel beneath Government Cut, a man-made channel finished in 1905.

The Miami port tunnel is a planned tunnel that has triggered debate in Miami, Florida.[1] The tunnel would carry 26,000 vehicles a day under a waterway known as Government Cut through a pair of tunnels that would each be two lanes wide. The tunnel would be about one mile long.[2] The top of the tunnel would lie a minimum of 60 feet below the seabed.

According to the Miami Herald[1]:

The state has selected, but not officially awarded, the 35-year concession agreement to the low bidder, a consortium headed by French construction giant Bouygues Travaux Publics and international bankers Babcock & Brown.

According to the Miami Herald the financing structure of the plan is notable, for the amount of financial risk taken by the builders, in return for the long term concession on the tunnel.[1]

Construction is projected to take 47 months.[1] Bouygues Travaux Publics was responsible for the French side of the Channel Tunnel. As with the Channel Tunnel large tunnel boring machines would dig through soft limestone under the waterway.

Anti-Castro Cuban exiles object to the choice of the French firm because it built 11 resorts in Cuba.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Larry Lebowitz. "Planned Miami port tunnel: Can we dig it?", Miami Herald, January 15, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
  2. ^ "Video: Animation showing what the tunnel would look like", Miami Herald, January 15, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
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