The idea of a link via a tunnel or bridge across the Strait of Gibraltar has existed since the 1980s. In December 2003, Spain and Morocco agreed to explore the construction of an undersea rail tunnel to connect their rail systems. In fall 2006, the Swiss firm Lombardi Engineering won the contract to design a railway tunnel between Europe and Africa running under the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Washington Post has said the project will "rank among the world's most ambitious and complex civil engineering feats, alongside the Panama Canal and the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France."

In fact, due to its huge challenges, the expected completion date is not until 2025.

The overall cost of the project was first estimated between US$4.43 billion and US$14.77 billion (3-10 billion euros). As of last year, the cost may reach as high as $15.6 billion. "The Moroccan and Spanish governments still have not decided whether the large infrastructure project will be operated by private capital or by the two states," says Afrol News.

Earlier last year, it was reported that both Morocco and Spain were investing in intensive research studies and they were likely to seek the European Union's assistance for financial support. This potentially improved economic incentive has led to geological investigations: "Scientists and engineers are examining the seabed to see how difficult it will be to drill into the rock," according to a BBC News report.

The first step entails drilling operations to "determine the final tract or route and data to calculate the project's total cost." The depth of the Strait of Gibraltar ranges from almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) to nearly 3,000 feet (900 meters). Moreover, the terrain at the bottom of the Strait is spotty at best. The Associated Press has refers to it as "chaotic."

"It is muddy and unstable right at the seabed, unlike the harder surface at the bottom of the English Channel," AP says. "Farther down are huge pockets of debris from tectonic slides – a cocktail of sand, stones and mud that make for a digger's nightmare."

Engineers are considering a 22-mile span at which the water is only 1,000 feet deep. In comparison, the Chunnel is about 130 feet below the surface of the English Channel seabed and there is about 150 feet of water above the seabed.

Four years ago, "the most suitable route [was] established as that between Punta Paloma, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Gibraltar, and Punta Malabata, near the Moroccan city of Tangiers," according to a newsletter from non-profit organization Friends of Morocco.

Other challenges include:

• The Strait's seabed is so permeable engineers would have to drill much deeper than was needed at the Chunnel;
• Fierce underwater currents in the Strait of Gibraltar; and
• High water pressure that would guarantee some water leakage into the tunnel.

Add tectonic movements and stresses between the European and African geologic plates to those challenges, as well. Severe earthquakes have been known to occur in the area under the Strait.

AllAfrica.com explains "The latter links France and Italy through the Alps. He told BBC that the project was his toughest assignment yet. 'No works in the world compare to this one.'"

To minimize cost, the tunnel must follow the route that requires boring through bed where it is shallowest. Although there are detractors to this project, "a quick rail link will make imports and exports much more efficient," says AllAfrica.com. "There is also a belief that with the tunnel completed, European investment would flood into North Africa."

The rail link may allow those with cars to drive them onto flatcars for quick transit through the tunnel. Millions of tourists visit Morocco every year and the trend has been upward.

To see a map of the Strait of Gibraltar, click HERE.

Resources

Tunnel between Morocco and Spain Agreed
Afrol News, Dec. 15, 2007

A 'Chunnel' for Spain and Morocco
by Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post, Jan. 28 2007

Spain and Morocco to Link via Rail Tunnel
The British Embassy, 2007

Africa and Europe Set for Tunnel Link
by Richard Hamilton
BBC News, March 13, 2007

Spain and Morocco Agree to Rail Tunnel under Gibraltar Strait
By Vicky Short
Friends of Morocco, Jan. 5, 2004

Tunnel to Link Africa and Europe
by Paul Redfern
AllAfrica.com, April 13, 2007

Swiss Plan Tunnel Under Strait of Gibraltar
Gibraltar News Online, Sept. 30, 2006

Magnitude 3.3 Strait of Gibraltar
United States Geological Survey, Jan. 11, 2008