Connecting Europe and the African continent, crossing the famous Strait of Gibraltar, this grand project dream of crossing continents is gradually becoming a reality. Recently, there have been new technological evaluations and preparations for the railway tunnel project across the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, indicating that this century long project, which may reshape the transportation patterns of the two continents, has entered a new stage.

At the request of SECEGSA, a subsidiary of the Spanish government, the leading enterprise in the global tunnel boring machine field, Germany's Herrenknecht AG, has completed a feasibility study on the railway tunnel. The core conclusion is that although the project is extremely complex, it is technically achievable with existing tunnel shield technology. According to the plan, this 38.5-kilometer-long tunnel will extend from west of Algeciras in Spain to Tangier in Morocco. Among them, the underwater part covers 28 kilometers, with the deepest point located 475 meters below sea level, and will extend along the Camarinal Trough that separates the Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans. The total distance between the ground stations at both ends of the tunnel is 42 kilometers.

At the specific level of promotion, it is reported that various departments of the Spanish government are preparing bidding documents for the excavation of the first exploration tunnel. It is expected that the bidding preparation work will be completed after June 2026, at which time the two countries will have the ability to make a final decision on officially launching the bidding in 2027. The construction of this tunnel, which is only used for geological exploration, is expected to take six to nine years, which shows the difficulty of the project.

In terms of investment and planning, the total estimated cost of the project within Spain is expected to exceed 8.5 billion euros. This funding will cover the exploration tunnel, two main operating tunnels, and the construction of the terminal station located in Weihel Delafrontra. The terminal station will be connected to the Cadiz Seville mainline of the Spanish national railway network through a new line in the future. At present, the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Transport is evaluating the financial feasibility of the project and exploring the adoption of a franchise model similar to the English Channel Tunnel or the Figueres Perpignan cross-border high-speed railway. The specific research content includes passenger and freight demand, route comparison, station positioning, and potential sources of income. In order to gain experience, a delegation from SECEGSA and its Moroccan partner SNED recently visited the Rogafast Tunnel, which is currently under construction in Norway. This underwater tunnel, with a total length of 27 kilometers and a maximum depth of 392 meters, will become the world's longest and deepest highway tunnel after completion. Its experience undoubtedly has important reference value for the Gibraltar project. Keywords: foreign engineering project information, foreign engineering construction news, foreign engineering projects

The Strait of Gibraltar Tunnel is not only an engineering challenge, but also a symbol of economic and cultural connectivity between Europe and Africa. Despite the long road ahead, every step from technical certification to exploration bidding marks the solid progress of this ambitious plan that has been brewing for decades. If successful, it will become another tunnel miracle connecting continents in Europe after the English Channel Tunnel, and for the first time, the two continents will be closely connected by railway, opening a new chapter in geo economics. Editor/Xu Shengpeng