SHANGHAI, Jun. 25 – The city’s newly-completed tunnel spanning of 2,254 meters will now link the Shanghai Port located on the on the west bank of the Huangpu River to its finance and trade center, Lujiazui.

The tunnel took 10 months to build at a cost of RMB1.8 billion and runs under the Huangpu river bed.

The project manager with the Shanghai Urban Construction and Tunnels, Zhang Rencai, told Xinhua that the tunnel would help ease traffic in the city ahead of the World Expo next year. He added that the tunnel still needed more work done like installation of machinery and electrical devices.

So far, there  are six tunnels that run under the river and are now open to traffic while there are plans to build seven more.

The Huangpu River is the source of most drinking water in the city and at 97 kilometers long it is the longest as well. The river cuts the city into two parts – the Pudong and Puxi side.

The tunnel is just one of the major construction projects going on in the city. Currently, the Minpu Bridge is still under construction. The double-layer bridge will the seventh largest one in the city and will connect with the A15 expressway from Pudong Airport to Zhejiang Province while the another level will be open for regular traffic.