Funding worth US$690 million is being provided from South Korea for Indonesia’s new tolled tunnel project. The new tolled tunnel will run underwater and provide a connection to the country’s new capital, Nusantara.
This new tunnel is being built of pre-fabricated components which are then joined together and submerged to form an immersed tunnel link. Details of the project have yet to be revealed but each of the sections is likely to carry three traffic lanes in either direction and measure 1-1.5km in length. Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) has announced that the immersed tunnel project will cost $736.6 million in total.
The tunnel will form a key stretch of the 47km expressway connecting the new capital with Balikpapan’s Sepinggan International Airport. The tunnel project is being managed by Indonesia’s Public Works and Housing Ministry. Construction is due to commence at the end of 2024.
A total of 88.5km of new toll roads will link with Nusantara of which 67.5km have already been completed. A new toll road between Nusantara and Balikpapan will reduce journey times to around 40-50 minutes meanwhile.
The new capital is being built as there are so many environmental issues around Indonesia’s current capital, Jakarta, which is sinking, suffers heavy traffic congestion and chronic air pollution.
