Excavation starts on Avraysa tunnel beneath Bosphorus On 26.02.2011 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the 5.4 km-long, double-deck Avraysa tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. The tunnel, which is designed for light vehicles only, will connect Harem and Sarayburnu districts on the Asian and European sides of the city. The alignment is 1.8 km south of the existing Marmaray tunnel, and it will form part of the 14.6 km Istanbul Strait Highway Passage Project. Eight underpasses, ten pedestrian overpasses and four crossovers are planned. The Transportation Ministry's Railroads, Ports and Airports Construction General Directorate (DLH) tendered the project for Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) over a period of 30.5 years, including construction. A Turkish-Korean partnership comprising Yap? Merkezi and SK E&C, Kukdong, Samwhan Corp. and Hanshin (TKJV) are the constructors, with a budget of EUR715 million and a schedule of 4 years, 7 months. For more visit tunnelbuilder archive tr/30 and www.dlh.gov.tr, www.ym.com.tr, www.samwhan.co.kr/sw/english/, www.kukdong.co.kr/eng/eng_index.aspand www.unctad.org/sections/wcmu/docs/cimem1n2p16_en.pdf. 10/11.