Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel

The Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel is 1640 meter long tunnel, for automobiles, under the Suez Canal, at Shallufa. The tunnel is named for Ahmed Hamdi, an Egyptian engineer and General killed in action during the Yom Kippur War. It has two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, and connects the Asian Sinai Peninsula to the town of Suez on the African mainland.ConstructionIt was originally constructed as a shield tunnel by the Tarmac Construction in November 1981. In 1992, the Japanese government granted aid to a project aimed at rehabilitating the tunnel which had developed leaks. It is 1.63 km long and has an outside diameter of 11.6 m.Significant developments in the regionThe tunnel was part of a major drive to develop the areas surrounding the Suez Canal, including other projects such as the Suez Canal overhead line crossing (completed in 1998), the El Ferdan Railway Bridge, and the Suez Canal Bridge (completed in 2001).