Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has signed an agreement with Spanish firm Getinsa Paymacotas to conduct technical studies and produce tender documents to build three new tunnels underneath the Suez Canal. The EUR551.32 million (EGP5bn) project is part of the development plan for the canal region. The Spanish government will be funding the preparation of technical studies with a grant of EUR900,000. Two 3 km-long road tunnels and a 5 km-long railway tunnel will each have a diameter of 12.20 m, according to the NAT initial study. The first tunnel will be located 19 km south of Port Said, the second will be near Al-Salam Bridge north of Ismailia, and the third will be in Suez. Currently, there is only one tunnel under the Suez Canal located north of Suez, known as the Martyr Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel. Preliminary studies for the project are expected to be completed in nine months, with implementation of the project taking three years. Visit www.dailynewsegypt.com, www.nat.org.eg and http://getinsa.es/index.php/en. 18/13.