Why are there so many tunnels in Europe?

There are a large number of tunnels in the Alps of Central Europe. They have the advantage of providing shorter routes and faster journey times by avoiding narrow, winding routes over mountain passes which may well be affected by winter conditions.



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Norway, which is considered the world's leader in tunnelling, has a whopping 900 tunnels, including the world's longest road tunnel.

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An erdstall is a type of tunnel that is found throughout Europe, mainly in the south-eastern German state of Bavaria and Austria. Erdstalls are thought to have been created during the Middle Ages, though some have claimed that these tunnels date to the Stone Age.

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Tunnels have many uses: for mining ores, for transportation—including road vehicles, trains, subways, and canals—and for conducting water and sewage.

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There are thousands of caves and tunnels in Italy, giving the traveler lots of options to go underground. Tuscany alone has 1,500 grottoes and 270 km of underground tunnels. Here are three of my favorite underground (one is semi-underground) spots, and only one requires a hard hat!

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1. -The Laerdal tunnel. With its 24.5 kilometers, Laerdal tunnel is the longest in the world, traversing several mountainous formations between Laerdal and Aurland, in western Norway.

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In 1876, then minister of public works Giuseppe Zanardelli declared: “Above or below the waves, Sicily must be united to the Continent.” But the tunnel was deemed too expensive and complex, and instead efforts were put into starting a ferry service, which began in 1896.

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Believe it or not, under the town of Orvieto is an elaborate maze of tunnels and caverns. Over 2,500 years ago, the Etruscan civilization dug deep into the earth to supply their town with water.

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It is actually composed of three tunnels, each 50km long, bored at an average 40m below the sea bed. They link Folkestone (Kent) to Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais). Eurotunnel Shuttles, Eurostar and freight trains runs on two monodirectional single-track tunnels.

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Officially known as the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link, the 11-mile-long tunnel linking Germany and Denmark will sit in a trench at the bottom of the Baltic Sea at a depth of up to 130 feet.

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The Apennine Base Tunnel, alternatively known as the Grand Apennine Tunnel, is a railway base tunnel 18.507 kilometres (11.500 mi) long on the Bologna-Florence Direttissima line in central Italy.

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10 of the world's greatest tunnels
  • Seikan Tunnel (Japan) — ...
  • Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (China) — ...
  • Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland) — ...
  • Lærdal Tunnel (Norway) — ...
  • Channel Tunnel (UK and France) — ...
  • Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (Japan) — ...
  • Eisenhower Tunnel (Colorado) — ...
  • Spiralen tunnel (Norway) —


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Shady Valley, Tennessee, United States--Surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest, Beaverdam Creek carves its way through the mountains alongside the Backbone Rock Tunnel in Shady Valley, Tennessee, United States; it is both narrow and tall at 80 feet in height and only 20 feet long, setting the world record for being ...

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