Colombia opens South America's longest road tunnel

The tunnel is 8.65 km long, aims to reduce the time and cost of moving goods

BOGOTA:

Colombia opened South America’s longest road tunnel, the Tunel de la Linea, on Friday after more than a decade of construction work.

The tunnel, which is 8.65 km (5.4 miles) long, aims to reduce the time and cost of moving goods from the Pacific port city of Buenaventura to the center of the Andean country.

“This is a triumph of a persevering, intense, working, dreaming and desire-realizing Colombia,” President Ivan Duque said at the opening ceremony.

The project, which runs through the central range of the Andes in the country’s west, cost more than 1 trillion pesos, or about $270 million.