The Corinth Canal Road Bridge

The Isthmus of Corinth and the Canal Road Bridge − Στον Ισθμό της Κορίνθου

Τόσα άπειρα πέρα δώθε επί σειρά ετών στη διαδρομή με την οποία απέκτησα τελικά μια σχέση μίσους-πάθους και ποτέ μα ποτέ μέχρι πέρυσι το καλοκαίρι δεν είχα περάσει από το δρόμο εκτός Εθνικής. Ναι, ναι, αυτόν με τη βυθιζόμενη γεφυρούλα! Και εντελώς μεταξύ μας, το τελευταίο πράγμα που περίμενα ήταν να μου φανεί όμορφο το συγκεκριμένο σημείο. Αν δεν έχετε σημαντικό ταξίδι μπροστά σας, υπάρχουν ταβερνάκια παύλα καφετέριες παύλα ζαχαροπλαστεία δίπλα στη γέφυρα απ’ όπου μπορείτε να χαζέψετε τα σούρτα-φέρτα των σκαφών και να φιλοσοφήσετε περι ζωής και ατέρμονης κίνησης, τα ζεστά καλοκαιρινά απογεύματα…

The Isthmus of Corinth is the narrow piece of land that connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the Greek mainland, near the city of Corinth. The word isthmus comes from the Ancient Greek word for “neck” and refers to the narrowness of the passage. It’s been known since ancient times as the landmark which separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece, and the Corinth Canal was opened at its narrowest point in 1880-1893. To the west of the Isthmus lies the Gulf of Corinth and to the east the Saronic Gulf.

It is rather hard to believe that, for the crazy number of times I have traveled back and forth on the Athens-Corinth national highway (motorway A8, part of the E94 Εuropean route), I had never—ever—followed the more scenic, alternative route of Isthmia that includes a submersible bridge! There are several little places (serving food, snacks, sweets, and ice cream) by the submersible bridge to chill out at and enjoy the vessels passing through several times a day…

Here’s a bit of trivia from Wikipedia: The canal consists of a single channel, 8 meters/26 ft deep, excavated at sea level (thus requiring no locks), measuring 6,346 meters/20,820 ft long by 24.6 meters/81 ft wide at the top and 21.3 meters/70 ft wide at the bottom. The rock walls rise 90 meters/300 ft above sea level at an almost vertical 80° angle. A railway line, a road, and a motorway* at a height of about 45 meters/148 ft cross the canal. In 1988, submersible bridges were installed at sea level at each end of the canal, at the eastern harbor of Isthmia and the western harbor of Poseidonia.

Although the canal saves the 700-km/430-mile journey around the Peloponnese, it is too narrow for modern ocean freighters, as it can only accommodate ships of a width of up to 16.5 m/54 ft and a draft of 7.3 m/24 ft. Ships can only pass through the canal one at a time on an one-way system. Larger ships have to be towed by tugs. Nowadays, it is mostly used by tourist ships; 11,000 ships per year travel through the waterway.

*The motorway bridge has walkways on both sides (and parking spaces in both directions of traffic) and offers a vertical view of the canal from higher above.