NANJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — The Taihu tunnel, China’s longest underwater highway tunnel, opened to traffic on Thursday in east China’s Jiangsu Province.

The 10.79-kilometer-long, 7.25-meter-tall tunnel runs under Taihu Lake, China’s third-largest freshwater lake.

It is part of the 43.9-kilometer Changzhou-Wuxi Highway, which also opened to traffic on Thursday.

Construction of the underwater tunnel began in January 2018. The project utilized automatic steel processing equipment and intelligent systems that could ensure zero discharge of sewage and dust, according to the construction team.