The Seikan Tunnel, which travels beneath the Tsugaru Strait, is the world's longest undersea tunnel in the world. The Seikan Tunnel lies 140m below the … Before the Seikan Tunnel was built, it was the only way to get across to Aomori from Hakodate. Size and physical characteristics; 5. Engineers couldn't use a tunnel boring machine to carve the Seikan Tunnel because the rock and soil beneath the Tsugaru Strait was random and unpredictable. The tunnel is 53.85 km (33.49 miles) long. The tunnel contains a rail line, and the building of the tunnel was sponsored by the Japanese National Railways. It serves as a connection between Aomori Prefecture on the island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido. | When was it built; 3. The following year, Japanese National Railways (JNR) expedited the tunnel investigation. It took 17 years and ¥538,000,000,000 to build, and opened in 1998. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seikan-Tunnel, Kids Web Japan - The Seikan Submarine Tunnel, Seikan Tunnel - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). In those days it was a rail ferry. The tunnel can be enjoyed if you ride a train from Aomori City to Hakodate.,Related posts: … The Channel Tunnel (which in any case is the third longest tunnel in the world, after the St Gotthard one - and, obviously, the Seikan one) was built between 1987 and 1994. Nowadays, the Shinkansen offers a faster and somewhat more comfortable way to get to Aomori, but the Seikan ferry remains a good budget option. Today, the Seikan Tunnel is the longest railroad tunnel in the world at 33.4 miles in length, 14.3 miles of which lie under the Tsugaru Strait. National Mar 14, 2018. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Since then, air transport has become much more practicable, and the Seikan Tunnel seems fated to carry significantly fewer passengers between the two islands than aircraft do. The Seikan Tunnel（Ja:青函トンネル）is a railway tunnel in Japan. Three stories high and 800 feet below the sea, the main tunnel was designed to serve the Shinkansen, Japan's high-speed bullet train. In fact, air travel today between Honshu and Hokkaido is quicker and almost as cheap as rail travel through the tunnel. Humans have tunneled since the first cave dwellers decided to excavate a spare bedroom, and the essentials of dig, support and advance were well-refined by the time the ancient Greeks used tunnels to irrigate and drain their farmland [sources: Lane; Browne]. It was built in the 20th century with a length extending to 53.85 km. Construction of the tunnel began in 1964 and was completed in 1988. Contents. Seikan Tunnel Visit the official site of the Seikan Tunnel for a detailed illustration, facts, and a short history of the longest railway tunnel in the world. The Seikan ferries have been around for ages. Web site © 2000-2001 WGBH Educational Foundation. The tunnel cross section is designed to facilitate the Shinkansen trains. The Seikan tunnel spans the Tsugaru Strait, connecting Aomori Prefecture on the island of Honshu to the island of Hokkaido. The tunnel is part of the standard gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen and the narrow gauge K… Why was it built; 4. Construction of the main tunnel’s entrance section started in August 1982. As well as regular passenger services, it's used by 50 freight trains a day, as well as sleeper services from Tokyo and Osaka. Construction of the tunnel began in 1964 and was completed in 1988. Tunnels -- General. Water gushed into the tunnel at a whopping rate of 80 tons per minute. Twenty-eight years after the tunnel opened, finally a bullet train is traveling through it. Omissions? Building Big Home | Site Map | Labs | Databank | Glossary The tunnel was the world’s longest railway tunnel until the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland in December 2016. The Seikan Tunnel (in red). This tunnel is the second longest transport tunnel in the world. It is 33.4 miles (53.8 km) long, 14.3 miles (23.3 km) of which lie under the Tsugaru Strait that separates Honshu from Hokkaido. 30 years on, world's longest undersea tunnel faces challenges as Japan balances bullet trains with freight. The Seikan Tunnel (Japanese: 青函トンネル, Seikan Tonneru or 青函隧道, Seikan Zuidō), is a 53.85 km (33.46 mi) dual gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a 23.3 km (14.5 mi) long portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern island of Hokkaido. The requirement of Seikan Tunnel was propelled after the Toya Maru ferry accident in 1954. Corrections? The tunnel is 54 kilometres long, and descends to a depth of 240 metres below the surface of the sea. Once the tunnel was completed, all railway transport between Honshu and Hokkaido used the tunnel. Down from Tappi to the Tappi-Kaitei (undersea) station by cable car. In response to public outrage, the Japanese government searched for a safer way to cross the dangerous strait. First contact between the two sides was made in 1983. A booming economy saw traffic levels on the JNR-operated Seikan Ferry double to 4,040,000 passengers/year from 1955 to 1965, and cargo levels rose 1.7 times to 6,240,000 tonnes/year. Still, for most of our tunnel-digging history, we've managed to get by on ingenuity. They sound terrifying, but underwater tunnels are so commonplace that we ra… The track level is about 100 m (330 ft) below the seabed and 240 m (790 ft) below sea level. The railway estimated this month that 2.1 million passengers a year and 3.4 million tons of freight would be carried through the Seikan Tunnel - … . Despite the tremendous engineering, construction, and financial efforts that it involved, the Seikan Tunnel is only of limited use, since air travel between Honshu and Hokkaido is quicker and is almost as cheap as rail travel through the tunnel itself. Excavation of the underwater section began in 1983 with the 5m pilot tunnel starting fro… There are two stations in the tunnel. More than 2,800 tons of explosives were used in the construction of the tunnel. 23.3 km (14.5 mile) of the tunnel is underwater. The safest alternative was also the most mind-boggling… to build a tunnel under the water. …in Japan, is the 34-mile Seikan undersea rock tunnel between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido; the...…. It took more than two months to control the flood. The Seikan Tunnel was made on March 13, 1988. The Seikan Tunnel, connecting Honshu, the main island of Japan, with the island of Hokkaido. This Web site was produced for PBS Online by WGBH. The Seikan Tunnel (青函トンネル , Seikan Tonneru) or 青函隧道 Seikan Zuidō , is a 53.85 km (33.46 mi) dual gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a 23.3 km (14.5 mi) long portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of … The tunnel remains one of the most formidable engineering feats of the 20th century, however. With such unpredictable weather conditions, engineers agreed that a bridge would be too risky to build. March 13, 2018. Please enjoy all aspects of Seikan Tunnel dynamically. Built to connect the cities of Kawasaki and Kisarazu, Japan’s mighty part-bridge-part-tunnel structure the Aqua Line crosses Tokyo Bay. The digging employed as many as 3,000 workers at one time and took 34 lives in all because of cave-ins, flooding, and other mishaps. Construction was finally started in 1964 with the first investigational inclined shaft sunk on the Hokkaido. Length: 53 kilometers 3. However, for passenger transport, 90% of people use air due to the speed and cost. Work on the tunnel started in 1964 and was completed in 1988. Updates? Tunnel construction included drilling and blasting through an earthquake-prone zone. User Guide More. We built the Channel tunnel between UK and France, we have the Seikan Tunnel in Japan which at the moment is the longest at 53 or so km. In 1954, a typhoon sank five ferry boats in Japan's Tsugaru Strait and killed 1,430 people. 23.3 km (14.5 mile) of the tunnel is underwater. Blake Linder 2 minutes read. According to data compiled by JR Hokkaido Co., it … Seikan Tunnel, Japanese Seikan Tonneru, undersea tunnel linking Japan’s main island of Honshu with the northern neighbouring island of Hokkaido. Tunnels being constructed in Japan total about 600 km in length, of which railroad tunnels account for 174 km, road tunnels 122 km, subway tunnels 79 km, water tunnels for power generation 77 km, tunnels for water supply and sewerage 130 km, and tunnels for irrigation water passages 24 km. The technology is here. It connects Hokkaido to Aomori Prefecture. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. It connects Hokkaido to Aomori Prefecture. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Hotels near Seikan Tunnel Museum: (0.22 mi) Hotel Tappi (0.26 mi) Tappizaki Seaside Park (8.84 mi) Tsugaru Kodomarikan (8.86 mi) Minshuku Shibazaki (5.38 mi) Tappi Ryokan; View all hotels near Seikan Tunnel Museum on Tripadvisor Unfortunately, the cost of extending the Shinkansen service through the new tunnel proved to be too expensive. Educators' Guide | Shop. The tunnel was opened on 13 March 1988, having cost a total of ¥538.4 billion (US$3.6 billion) to construct. Seikan Tunnel: Seikan, Japan: The Seikan Tunnel is the world's longest tunnel with an undersea segment. With a length of 33.4 miles (53.8 km), it is the second longest tunnel in the world. The Seikan is a railway tunnel in Japan, but what makes it unique is the fact that a 23-kilometer (14.2 miles) stretch of the tunnel is 140 meters (460 feet) below sea level. Ten years later, work began on what would be the longest and hardest underwater dig ever attempted. The tunnel is 53.85 km (33.49 miles) long. Even so, they did it. When the tunnel was first planned in the 1950s, ferries were the chief means of transport between the main island and Hokkaido, and the sinking of a ferry boat in the Tsugaru Strait during a typhoon in 1954 with a loss of more than 1,400 lives galvanized plans for the tunnel’s construction. April 25, 2015 We began services of this year. Bridges | Domes | Skyscrapers | Dams | Tunnels The digging employed as many as 3,000 workers at one time and took 34 lives in all because of cave-ins, flooding, and other mishaps. Also of concern was the increasing traffic between the two islands. The Seikan Tunnel was opened in March 1988, at a total cost of around US$7 billion (almost 12 times the original budget). Despite its limited use, the Seikan Tunnel remains one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century. There are two stations in the tunnel. Revisiting the construction of Japan’s now 30 year-old Seikan Tunnel 30 years ago to the day, the Seikan Tunnel in Japan was opened as the tunnel with the longest underwater segment in the world, a title it still holds today. Seikan Tunnel, Japan: 1. SEIKAN UNDERSEA TUNNEL. "The Seikan Tunnel was built through sadness, and to create a path for the bullet train. This museum opens only from April 25 to November 10. The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is officially the longest underwater tunnel in the world, spanning for 53,9 km (33.5 miles) beneath the Tsugaru Strait … This tunnel is the second longest transport tunnel in the world. The Seikan Tunnel is the second longest tunnel in the world, after the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland. Afterward, overcoming many difficult problems, the primary shaft of the tu… Construction of the tunnel began in 1964 and was completed in 1988; the digging employed as many as 3,000 workers at one time and took 34 lives in all because of cave-ins, flooding, and other mishaps. About Museum More. The idea of building the Seikan Tunnel was introduced before the Second World War, but the actual investigation about building the tunnel was started after the war. Construction on the south tunnel began on August 18, 1975, and was finished on December 21, 1979. During construction in 1976, tunnel workers hit a patch of soft rock with disastrous results. 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