Bosporus Water Tunnel

Bosphorus Water Tunnel
Boğaziçi Su Tüneli

Overview
Location	Ortaçeşme (Beykoz) to Derbent (Sarıyer) under the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey
Coordinates
Waterway	Melen System (Melen Creek and tunnels)
Technical
Length	5,551 m (18,212 ft)

The Bosphorus Water Tunnel (Turkish: Boğaziçi Su Tüneli) is an under sea waterway tunnel in Istanbul, Turkey, crossing the Bosphorus strait. It was constructed in 2012 to transfer water from the Melen Creek in Düzce Province to the European side of Istanbul.

The infrastructure, built by the Ministry of Forest and Water Management, is 136 m (446 ft) under the sea level, resisting a pressure of 14 bar (200 psi). It is a steel tube of 4 m (13 ft) in diameter, which is inside a hard-rock type tunnel of 6 m (20 ft) in diameter, bored with high-technology machinery. Situated between Ortaçeşme (Beykoz) and Derbent (Sarıyer) under the Bosphorus, the 5,551 m (3.449 mi) long waterway tunnel has a water flow rate of 32.5 m³/s (1,150 cu ft/s).

Being the first stage of the Melen System that cost 2 billion TL, the waterway tunnel was constructed in 1,756 days (advancing 8 m (26 ft) each day) and completed on 19 May 2012 without any accident. It will transfer a daily rate of 2.8 million m³ of water, which is two and half times higher than Istanbul's current water consumption. The Melen System will bring the water of the Melen Creek in Düzce Province from a distance of 185 km (115 mi), and will ensure the needed water supply for Greater Istanbul until the 2060s.

See also

• Water supply and sanitation in Istanbul