List of longest tunnels in the world

The longest large tunnels in the world have been constructed for water distribution, followed by tunnels for railways. Both uses are highly sensitive to gradients.

Contents

World's longest tunnels (in use)

Name Location Length Type Year Comment
Delaware Aqueduct New York state, United States 137,000 m (85.1 mi) Water supply 1945 New York City's main water supply tunnel, drilled through solid rock
Päijänne Water Tunnel Southern Finland, Finland 120,000 m (74.6 mi) Water supply 1982 16 m2 cross section
Dahuofang Water Tunnel Liaoning Province, China 85,320 m (53.0 mi) Water supply 2009 8 m in diameter [1]
Orange–Fish River Tunnel South Africa 82,800 m (51.4 mi) Water supply 1972 longest continuous enclosed aqueduct in the southern hemisphere (22.5 m2 cross section)
Bolmen Water Tunnel Kronoberg/Scania, Sweden 82,000 m (51.0 mi) Water supply 1987 8 m2
Seikan Tunnel Tsugaru Strait, Japan 53,850 m (33.5 mi) Railway 1988 longest railway tunnel, 74 m2
Želivka Water Tunnel[2] Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic 51,075 m (31.7 mi) Water supply 1972 5 m2
Channel Tunnel English Channel, United Kingdom/France 50,450 m (31.3 mi) Railway 1994 longest underwater section, longest international tunnel, second-longest railway tunnel (2×45 m2 + 1×18 m2)
Seoul Subway: Line 5 Seoul, South Korea 47,600 m (29.6 mi) Metro 1995 longest metro/rapid transit tunnel
Altufyevo - Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo (line 9) Moscow Metro, Russia 41,500 m (25.8 mi) Metro 1983–2002
Metro Madrid L-12: (Metro Sur) Madrid, Spain 40,900 m (25.4 mi) Metro 1999–2003
Tocho-mae - Shiodome - Hikarigaoka (Toei Oedo Line) Tokyo, Japan 40,700 m (25.3 mi) Metro 1991–2000
Kárahnjúkar Hydroelectric Powerplant Austurland, Iceland 39,700 m (24.7 mi) Hydroelectric 2003–2007 7.2-7.6 meters in diameter. Part of a wider complex of tunnels that are 72 kilometers in length combined
Quabbin Aqueduct Massachusetts, United States 39,600 m (24.6 mi) Water supply 1897–1905
Medvedkovo - Novoyasenevskaya (line 6) Moscow Metro, Russia 37,600 m (23.4 mi) Metro 1958–1990
Lötschberg Base Tunnel Bernese Alps, Switzerland 34,577 m (21.5 mi) Railway 2007 longest land tunnel, single track along 22 km
Metro Madrid L-7: Hospital del Henares - Pitis Madrid, Spain 32,919 m (20.5 mi) Metro 1974–2007
Rathaus Spandau-Rudow (U7) Berlin U-Bahn, Germany 31,800 m (19.8 mi) Metro 1924–1984
Côte-Vertu - Montmorency (Line 2 Orange) Montreal Metro, Canada 30,798 m (19.1 mi) Metro 1966–2007
Parnas - Kupchino (line 2) Saint Petersburg Metro, Russia 30,100 m (18.7 mi) Metro 1961–2006
Prospekt Veteranov - Devyatkino (line 1) Saint Petersburg Metro, Russia 29,600 m (18.4 mi) Metro 1955–1978
Guadarrama Tunnel[3] Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain 28,377 m (17.6 mi) Railway 2007
Taihang Tunnel[4] Taihang Mountains, China 27,848 m (17.3 mi) Railway 2008 on Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan high-speed railway
Morden - East Finchley (Northern Line) London Underground, England 27,800 m (17.3 mi) Metro 1890–1940
Dainichi-Nagahara (Tanimachi Line) Osaka Municipal Subway, Japan 27,100 m (16.8 mi) Metro 1967–1983
LEP Tunnel CERN, Switzerland/France 26,659 m (16.6 mi)[5] Particle accelerator 1989 11.3–15.9 m2 circular ring, now used by Large Hadron Collider
Hakkōda Tunnel(Tōhoku Shinkansen) Hakkōda Mountains, Japan 26,455 m (16.4 mi) Railway 2010 64–74 m2
Kanayama-Nagoya Dome-mae Yada-Kanayama (Meijo Line) Nagoya Municipal Subway, Japan 26,400 m (16.4 mi) Metro 1965–2004
Şanlıurfa Irrigation Tunnels Turkey 26,400 m (16.4 mi) Irrigation 2005 [6]
Gilgel Gibe II Power Station headrace tunnel Ethiopia 26,000 m (16.2 mi) Hydroelectric 2005–2009 Tunnel partially collapsed, under repair until November 2010.[7]
Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel Ōu Mountains, Japan 25,810 m (16.0 mi) Railway 2002
Lærdal Tunnel Lærdal - Aurland, Norway 24,510 m (15.2 mi) Road 2000 the longest road tunnel in the world
Yellow Line (Delhi Metro): GTB Nagar - Qutub Minar[8] Delhi, India 24,000 m (14.9 mi) Metro 2004–2010 longest metro tunnel in India
Metro Madrid L-1: Valdecarros - Pinar de Chamartín Madrid, Spain 23,876 m (14.8 mi) Metro
Metro Madrid L-6: Circular Madrid, Spain 23,472 m (14.6 mi) Metro 1979–2007
Angrignon - Honoré-Beaugrand (Line 1 Green) Montreal Metro, Canada 23,262 m (14.5 mi) Metro 1966–2007
Warsaw Metro L-1: Kabaty - Młociny Warsaw, Poland 23,100 m (14.4 mi) Metro 1983–2008
Daishimizu Tunnel Mount Tanigawa, Japan 22,221 m (13.8 mi) Railway 1982
Wushaoling Tunnel Wuwei, China 21,050 m (13.1 mi) Railway 2006 second tube opened in 2007
Barcelona Metro line 1 Barcelona, Spain 20,700 m (12.9 mi) Metro 1926–1992
Geumjeong Tunnel[9] Busan, South Korea 20,323 m (12.6 mi) Railway 2010 Gyeongbu High Speed Railway
The London Connection London, United Kingdom 20,000 m (12.4 mi)[10] Electric power transmission tunnel 2005[11] National Grid plc, 3-metre diameter, 400 kilovolt circuit, overhead monorail
Simplon Tunnel Lepontine Alps, Switzerland/Italy 19,803 m (12.3 mi) Railway 1906 a parallel tunnel was opened in 1922 (19,824 m long)
Vereina Silvretta, Switzerland 19,058 m (11.8 mi) Railway 1999 single track with passing loops, metre gauge
Shin Kanmon Kanmon Straits, Japan 18,713 m (11.6 mi) Railway 1975
Vaglia Bologna - Firenze, Italy 18,711 m (11.6 mi) Railway 2009 Bologna–Florence high-speed railway
Apennine Base Tunnel Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Italy 18,507 m (11.5 mi) Railway 1934
Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line Kiev Metro, Ukraine 18,480 m (11.5 mi) Metro 1976
Qinling I-II Qin Mountains, China 18,457 m (11.5 mi) Railway 2002 Double track [12]
Avtozavodskaya Line Minsk Metro, Belarus 18,100 m (11.2 mi) Metro 1990
Zhongnanshan China 18,040 m (11.2 mi) Road 2007 the longest road tunnel in China
Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska Line Kharkiv Metro, Ukraine 17,300 m (10.7 mi) Metro 1975
Gotthard Road Tunnel Lepontine Alps, Switzerland 16,918 m (10.5 mi) Road 1980
Barcelona Metro line 4 Barcelona, Spain 16,700 m (10.4 mi) Metro 1929–1999
Barcelona Metro line 3 Barcelona, Spain 16,600 m (10.3 mi) Metro 1924–2001
Barcelona Metro line 5 Barcelona, Spain 16,600 m (10.3 mi) Metro 1959–1983
Metro Madrid L-8: Nuevos Ministerios - Aeropuerto Madrid, Spain 16,467 m (10.2 mi) Metro 1998–2007
Metro Madrid L-3: Moncloa - Villaverde Alto Madrid, Spain 16,424 m (10.2 mi) Metro 1939–2007
Line 3 (Athens Metro)[13] Athens, Greece 16,400 m (10.2 mi) Metro 1991–2008 Line 3 is actually 39.6 km long, but only 16,4 km of it are underground.
Rokkô Tunnel[14] Mount Rokkō, Japan 16,250 m (10.1 mi) Railway 1972
Henderson Tunnel[15] Front Range, United States 15,800 m (9.8 mi)[16] Railway 1976 Narrow gauge railway, replaced by a conveyor belt in 1999. Only one portal (served an underground mine)[17]
Furka Base Urner Alps, Switzerland 15,442 m (9.6 mi) Railway 1982 single track with passing loops, metre gauge
Haruna Gunma Prefecture, Japan 15,350 m (9.5 mi) Railway 1982
Severomuysky Tunnel Severomuysky Range, Russia 15,343 m (9.5 mi) Railway 2003
Firenzuola Bologna - Firenze, Italy 15,285 m (9.5 mi) Railway 2009 Bologna–Florence high-speed railway
Gorigamine Tunnel[14] Takasaki - Nagano, Japan 15,175 m (9.4 mi) Railway 1997
Monte Santomarco Paola - Cosenza, Italy 15,040 m (9.3 mi) Railway 1987
Gotthard Rail Tunnel Lepontine Alps, Switzerland 15,003 m (9.3 mi) Railway 1882
Nakayama Nakayama Pass, Honshū, Japan 14,857 m (9.2 mi) Railway 1982
Mount Macdonald Tunnel Rogers Pass, Glacier National Park, Canada 14,723 m (9.1 mi) Railway 1989
Cuajone-El Sargento Ilo-Toquepala / Cuajone Industrial Railroad - Southern Peru Copper Corporation, Peru 14,720 m (9.1 mi) Railway 1975
Lötschberg Tunnel Alps, Switzerland 14,612 m (9.1 mi) Railway 1913
Romerike Tunnel Oslo - Lillestrøm, Norway 14,580 m (9.1 mi) Railway 1999
Tunnelbana 3 (Blue line), Kungsträdgården-Hjulsta Stockholm, Sweden 14,300 m (8.9 mi) Metro 1975–1977
Dayaoshan[18] Nanling Mountains, China 14,294 m (8.9 mi) Railway 1987
Metro Lisbon - Blue (Seagull) Line Lisbon, Portugal 14,000 m (8.7 mi) Metro 1959–2007
Arlberg Road Tunnel Arlberg, Austria 13,972 m (8.7 mi) Road 1978
Hokuriku Tunnel Mount Kinome, Japan 13,870 m (8.6 mi) Railway 1962
Fréjus (Mont Cenis) Alps, France/Italy 13,636 m (8.5 mi) Railway 1871
Shin Shimizu Tunnel[14] Mount Tanigawa, Japan 13,500 m (8.4 mi) Railway 1967
Savio Rail Tunnel Helsinki - Kerava, Finland 13,500 m (8.4 mi) Railway 2008
Hex River Tunnel[19] Hex River Pass, South Africa 13,400 m (8.3 mi) Railway 1989
Wonhyo Tunnel[20][21] Ulsan, South Korea 13,270 m (8.2 mi) Railway 2010 Gyeongbu High Speed Railway
Schlern Tunnel[22] South Tyrol, Italy 13,159 m (8.2 mi) Railway 1993
Caponero-Capoverde Genova - Ventimiglia, Italy 13,135 m (8.2 mi) Railway 2001 includes an underground station ("San Remo")
Barcelona Metro line 2 Barcelona, Spain 13,100 m (8.1 mi) Metro 1985–1997
Aki Sanyo Shinkansen, Japan 13,030 m (8.1 mi) Railway 1975
Hsuehshan Taipei - Yilan, Taiwan 12,942 m (8.0 mi) Road 2006
Many more tunnels exist that are shorter than 13 kilometres (8 mi)

Note that there are Metro/Subway/Underground/Rapid transit railways that have tunnels that would be placed high on this list. The longest such tunnel is Seoul Subway Line 5 of Seoul Metro, 52.4 km (32.6 mi) long. Often metro tunnels are not considered to be continuous, because the stations do not count as tunnels. See also List of long tunnels by type.

World's longest tunnels (under construction)

Name Location Length Type Year Comment
New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 New York State, United States 96,560 m (60.0 mi) Water 2020 More water supply for New York City. Already in use; at completion it will be the world's third longest tunnel
Gotthard Base Tunnel Lepontine Alps, Switzerland 57,072 m (35.5 mi) or 57,091 m (35.5 mi) Railway 2017 new Gotthard Railway; at completion it will be the longest railway tunnel (breakthrough 2010-10-15)
Two tubes (East 57,091 m (35.5 mi), West 56,978 m (35.4 mi)), 8.8–9.5 m (29–31 ft) cross section
Koralm Tunnel Koralpe, Austria 32,900 m (20.4 mi) Railway 2020 boring of main tunnel started at the west portal May 2010[23]
New Guanjiao Tunnel Qinghai, China 32,605 m (20.3 mi) Railway 2012 longest tunnel on the upgraded dual-track Xining–Golmud section of Qinghai–Tibet Railway, longest railway tunnel in China, 3323.58–3380.97 meters above sea level
Lainzer/Wienerwaldtunnel west of Vienna, Austria 26,000 m (16.2 mi) Railway 2012 breakthrough 2007-09-03
Melamchi Water supply Development Board Melamchi to Kathmandu 26,000 m (16.2 mi) Water Tunnel 2009-2014 Under construction, Financed by Asian Development Bank
Pajares Base Tunnel Principado de Asturias, Spain 24,667 m (15.3 mi) Railway 2011
Iiyama Tunnel[24] Iiyama, Japan 22,225 m (13.8 mi) Railway 2013 being built for the Hokuriku Shinkansen, breakthrough 2007
Mavi Tünel (Blue Tunnel)[25] Konya, Turkey 17,000 m (10.6 mi) Water / Irrigation 2012 breakthrough 2007
Solan Tunnel[26] Dongbaeksan-Dongye, Gangwon-do, Taebaek Line, South Korea 16,240 m (10.1 mi) Railway 2012 Includes a spiral; breakthrough 2006-12-07
Ceneri Base Tunnel Lepontine Alps, Switzerland 15,400 m (9.6 mi) Railway 2019 new Gotthard Railway
Marmaray Istanbul, Turkey 13,600 m (8.5 mi) Railway 2013 built next to a fault zone, between two continents; breakthrough 2008-09-23
Possibly incomplete table. Many more tunnels are under construction that will be shorter than 13 kilometres (8 mi)

World's longest tunnels (advanced planning stage)

Name Location Length Type Year Comment
Brenner Base Tunnel Stubai Alps, Austria – Italy 56,000 m (34.8 mi) Railway 2025 Planning stage, pilot tunnel under construction
Mont d'Ambin base tunnel Cottian Alps, France – Italy 52,000 m (32.3 mi) Railway 2020–2023 access shafts under construction
Gaoligongshan Tunnel Yunnan, China 39,600 m (24.6 mi) Railway 2017 Railway between Dali and Ruili
Musil Tunnel[27] Ulsan, South Korea 25,080 m (15.6 mi)[28] Railway 2018 Planning stage, on the Jungang Line (work slated to start June 2011)
Follo Line Oslo, Norway 19,000 m (11.8 mi) Railway 2018
Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link Germany-Denmark 17,600 m (10.9 mi) Road & Railway 2020 start of construction planned for 2014
Förbifart Stockholm[29] Stockholm, Sweden 16,000 m (9.9 mi) Road 2020 construction not started yet

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dahuofang Water Tunnel". http://www.robbinstbm.com/case-study/dahuofang-water-tunnel/. 
  2. ^ Mug, Vladislav; Konvicka, Vladislav (2009). "Underground World: Stola Water Delivery Conduit from the Water Tank Želivka to Prague" (in Czech: Štolový vodovodní přivaděč z vodní nádrže Želivka do Prahy). http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=cs&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hornictvi.info%2Fpodzemi%2Fzelivka%2F02.htm. Retrieved 27 February 2010. 
  3. ^ Structurae [en]: Guadarrama Tunnel (2005)
  4. ^ http://www.tunnelintelligence.com/awards-in-detail-50.html
  5. ^ "The LHC, Facts and figures". CERN. 2008. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/Facts-en.html. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
  6. ^ "Şanlıurfa Sulama Tünelleri ve Tesisleri İnşaatı" (in Turkish). Eren İnşaatı. http://www.ereninsaatas.com/site/t9.php. Retrieved 1 October 2010. 
  7. ^ "Collapse of headrace tunnel after grand opening". Tunnel Talk. February 2010. http://www.tunneltalk.com/Gilgel-Gibe-II-Feb10-collapse.php. Retrieved 27 September 2010. 
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ "경부고속철도 금정터널 개요" (in Korean). Civil Engineering. 2009-07-06. http://civileng7.tistory.com/1020. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  10. ^ "ABB starts to make ‘The London Connection’". ABB Group. 2004-08-14. http://www.abb.com/cawp/seitp202/9C1D698E86B2F7ED8025700C00539EFB.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-08. "a 20km long three-metre diameter tunnel" 
  11. ^ "£200M London Connection Project is Commissioned" (PDF). National Grid plc. 2005-09. http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/DE652156-CC9B-4559-9FA1-40210B4B411C/583/London_Connection_MediaReleasefinal.pdf. Retrieved 2009-02-08. "This 20km long tunnel contains one of the longest 400kV XLPE cable circuits to be installed in Europe." 
  12. ^ http://www.springerlink.com/content/ypr7t74670312147/
  13. ^ http://www.amel.gr/index.php?id=22&L=1
  14. ^ a b c New Tunneling Technology in Japan / Statistical Data
  15. ^ ClimaxMoly: USA - Colorado - Henderson
  16. ^ Longest Railroad Tunnels
  17. ^ http://www.transportwriter.com/writings/writing4_minetram.htm
  18. ^ Table 1
  19. ^ Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ [3]
  22. ^ Galleria di Base del Brennero - Brenner Basistunnel BBT SE - Facts
  23. ^ ÖBB Infrastruktur AG: Wettmannstätten – St. Andrä
  24. ^ Structurae [en]: Iyama Tunnel (2013)
  25. ^ "Mavi Tünel Project Page" (in Turkish). http://www.mavitunel.com/. 
  26. ^ "대우건설 솔안터널 관통식" (in Korean). Asia Economy. 2006-12-07. http://www.asiaeconomy.co.kr/uhtml/read.php?idxno=2006120711251167615. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  27. ^ "원주~제천 중앙선 복선전철 2011년 6월 착공" (in Korean). Yahoo!. 2010-09-09. http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shellview.htm?linkid=441&articleid=20100909182956897l6&newssetid=5. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 
  28. ^ "Feasibility study and basic plan of Jungang Line for double track between Wonju and Jecheon". Chunsuk Engineering. http://www.cse.co.kr/eng/results/res_D.asp?idx=296. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 
  29. ^ "Sveriges längsta vägtunnel till Stockholm". 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090217080953/http://www.dn.se/sthlm/sveriges-langsta-vagtunnel-till-stockholm-1.485159. 
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