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| Shown above is a model picture of SK E&C's Eurasia Tunnel, which connects Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus strait of Istanbul. / Courtesy of SK E&C |
By Jhoo Dong-chan
A construction project for an undersea tunnel by SK Engineering & Construction (E&C) was recently named this year's Global Best Project (GBP) in the tunnel and bridge sector by the Engineering News Record, the world's leading construction journal.
The Engineering News Record annually awards the best projects in 17 sectors in construction, including tunnels and bridges. SK E&C is the nation's first builder to win such a honor from the U.S.-based weekly journal.
"Our tunnel project in Turkey has won a number of awards from the industry since completion," Seo Seok-jae, an SK E&C executive, said Sunday. "We are pleased to be recognized for our technologies that helped with the success of difficult underwater works."
The Eurasia Tunnel is the world's first undersea double-deck expressway tunnel that crosses the Bosphorus strait of Istanbul to connect Asia and Europe.
To complete a 3.34-kilometer section 110 meters below sea level, SK E&C deployed the world's largest tunnel boring machine, 13.7 meters in diameter, 120 meters in length and 3,300 tons in weight, to bear the water pressure equivalent to 11 atmospheres.
Last August, SK E&C completed the 16-month project.
SK E&C's undersea tunnel in Turkey also won the Major Project award given by the International Tunnel Association last December while receiving a similar honor from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in May 2015.
The tunnel is expected to open next April, and SK E&C will carry out maintenance and operations until June 2041.
Since its foundation in 1977, the construction subsidiary of Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group has grown steadily, gaining a solid global reputation in a host of sectors such as transportation, telecommunication infrastructure and building solutions.
After SK Group's acquisition of a refinery and petrochemical complex in Ulsan in 1980, SK E&C also began to grow its capabilities to support rapid expansion of the Ulsan complex.
Based on its experience in Korea, the constructor tapped into the international market in the 1990s, duplicating its local success in the global scene by chalking up exponential growth over the past decade.
In particular, the company has delivered landmark projects, which earned it the trust of its major customers in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Included in its successful global works are multibillion-dollar projects for oil refining, gas processing and power plants.
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