Cobham Wireless
Connecting Continents: Public Safety Communications Network Deployed in World-First Intercontinental Road Tunnel
Cobham Wireless, together with systems integrator partner, Yapı İDİS, deployed a public safety communications network within the new Eurasia Tunnel. The construction is the world’s first undersea road tunnel linking two continents, spanning Europe and Asia.
The Challenge
In mid-2016, Cobham Wireless was selected to provide a public safety communications system for the Eurasia Tunnel, the first undersea road tunnel to connect two continents. The completion of the project was a landmark feat of engineering, linking two areas of Istanbul on either side of the Bosphorous Strait, and reducing the cross-continental journey time from around 100 minutes to just 15.
Constructed by Yapı Merkezi and SK E&C, the tunnel spans 5.4km and is open to traffic 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Seven hundred engineers and more than 12,000 employees were involved in the tunnel’s construction, which included the deployment of infrastructure and technologies to ensure the highest level of safety for drivers and passengers.
Cobham Wireless was awarded the tender for the public safety communications network project due to its experience as a provider of public safety network equipment, which includes numerous tunnel and underground deployments. However, the scale and significance of the Eurasia Tunnel, as well as the very short lead time, set this deployment apart.
A multi-band, multi-technology solution was required to provide emergency services cover within the tunnel, supporting UHF, VHF, DMR and FM technologies. A purchase order for Cobham Wireless’ equipment was received in September 2016, with the Turkish government giving a deadline of December 20th for the completion of the project. This allowed roughly three months for the customised solution to be installed and tested within the space allocated in the tunnel.
The Solution
Despite the challenging turnaround time, Cobham Wireless delivered the public safety network prior to the tunnel’s inauguration ceremony and subsequent commercial opening at the end of 2016…
