OLYMPICS-RIO/TUNNEL EXPLOSION Olympic tunnel connected in Rio one year from the start of the 2016 Olympics

Record ID: 145178

  • Title: OLYMPICS-RIO/TUNNEL EXPLOSION Olympic tunnel connected in Rio one year from the start of the 2016 Olympics
  • Date: 4th August 2015
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PRESIDENT OF RIO 2016 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, CARLOS ARTHUR NUZMAN, SAYING: "It is exciting to see a part of the city that didn't have any support, didn't have development, and didn't have growth opportunities; today with the opening of this tunnel we see a project that will leave an extraordinary legacy."
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA119OILLFX8K2Q0GPKOGGP65YK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The final wall dividing the Transolimpica Tunnel in Rio de Janeiro came crumbling down Tuesday (August 4), giving workers just one year to complete the project before the start of the 2016 Olympic Games.
    The tunnel is part of the 26 kilometre- (16 mile-) Transolimpica highway that will connect Barra de Tijuca, in the city's western zone where the Olympic Village will be held, to the Deodoro Olympic Park, one of four venue sites, in the neighbourhood of the same.
    The corridor will also have an exclusive lane for the city's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line and is expected to serve 70,000 passengers and motorists per day once it is completed before the first half of 2016.
    City, state and Olympic officials were on hand to walk through the tunnel after the final divider was finally toppled.
    The president of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said the infrastructure project is an Olympic legacy that will benefit the communities around the highway project well after the Games.
    "It is exciting to see a part of the city that didn't have any support, didn't have development, and didn't have growth opportunities; today with the opening of this tunnel we see a project that will leave an extraordinary legacy," Nuzman said.
    The mayor said the Olympics were bringing development to neglected corners of the city.
    "Two fifths of the population of the city, half the city's territory was completely abandoned. The Olympics are distributing (benefits) through the city, when it reaches the Deodoro Olympic Park, we will see a lot (of change), but not just Deodoro, we'll see it in Duque de Caxias, it (the Transolimpica) almost reaches Nova Iguacu," said Paes.
    The city says the Transolimpica expressway project is currently 65 percent complete.
    And with one year to go, the city looks like a giant building site with firms working on an extended metro, light railway, re-built port area, new highways and dozens of venues.
    Debate over the polluted Guanabara Bay further deepened as privately commissioned tests of the water quality, where rowers, sailors and open water swimmers will be competing, revealed this week a high level of disease-causing viruses.
    The 2016 Olympic Games will open on August 5, 2016.
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