Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Rebekah Schipper.
Voice 1
One hundred and fifty [150] years ago the Sultan leader of Istanbul, Turkey had an idea. Istanbul is a city divided by water. One side is on the Asian continent. And the other side is on the European continent. The water of the Bosphorus Straights flows between the two sides. The Sultan wanted to connect the two sides with an underwater tunnel. But, he never completed the project.
Voice 2
Today, one hundred and fifty [150] years later, a group of people want to complete the tunnel the Sultan started. They have named this project the Marmaray project. They believe that an underwater tunnel will solve many problems for the city of Istanbul. It is a busy city. There is a lot of traffic. And there are already three bridges that cross the Bosphorus Straights. The engineers want to use the tunnel for a train. The train would help traffic flow better. People can take the train between the two parts of the city instead of using their cars.
Voice 1
But the Marmaray project is facing an interesting problem. While digging, engineers have uncovered an ancient sea port. What exactly did they find? Will they be able to complete the job? Today’s Spotlight is on the Marmaray Project of the Bosphorus Straights.
Voice 2
The idea of the Marmaray Project is to connect the two sides of Istanbul. Part of the connection structure will be above ground. Part of it will be a tunnel under the ground. And the last part will be a tunnel under fifty-eight [58] metres of water--under the Bosphorus Straights. Each part will be connected to create one structure.
Voice 1
Engineers are making the tunnels out of concrete and steel. There will be eleven [11] parts connected to each other under the water. The engineers are building these parts on land. When they are ready, they will sink the parts. Then they will connect them together to create the tunnel. The tunnel under the Bosphorus Straight will be one thousand three hundred eighty-seven [1387] metres long.
Voice 2
Under the Bosphorus Straight there is a fault line, a natural split in the earth’s surface. Earthquakes often happen along fault lines. The fault line is very close to where the underwater tunnels will be. So, the engineers must make sure the area around the tunnels is strong. One engineer said,
Voice 3
“We are strengthening the soil by putting concrete into the sea floor. Then we can place the tunnel tubes easily and take measures to protect against earthquakes in the area.”
Voice 1
Haluk Ozman is the Marmaray Project leader. He hopes the project will be done by the year 2010.
Voice 2
But Haluk and the Marmaray Project have run into a problem. During their digging they uncovered an ancient sea port from the fourth [4th] century. Now archaeologists, people who study ancient objects found in the ground, want to stop the Marmaray Project. They want to make sure that no harm comes to the ancient objects.
Voice 1
The ancient port is in Yenikapi, on the European side of Istanbul. The Marmary Project chose this city to be the place for a train station. Engineers destroyed many small homes here to make room for the station. While they were clearing the area they came across some ancient objects. Archaeologists have never seen these kinds of objects in that area before. So, the objects are very special.
Voice 2
So far archaeologists have found many pieces of the ancient port. They have found ancient stone walls that were once part of the ship harbour. Old wood sticks come up out of the water. Archaeologists believe the wood pieces were once a pier, where boats would come to stop. The lead archaeologist is Metin Gokcay. He tells about the port and the pier.
Voice 4
“We have found forty-three [43] metres of the pier so far. We believe there used to be a platform on those sticks. Down there is where the people unloaded their horses.”
Voice 1
Archaeologists have found many ancient objects that people would have used at the port. They found old ship anchors that would keep the ships in place in the water. They also found lengths of old rope, used to tie the ships to the pier. Many archaeologists are working to take the dirt and mud off of all the objects.
Voice 2
Other discovered objects help describe the lives of the people living in the fourth [4th] century. Archaeologists found leather sandals, or shoes. The shoes have leather ropes that fit between peoples’ toes. They have found thousands of candle holders. And they also found hair brushes.
Voice 1
But the most treasured find was an old wooden boat. It is more than one thousand [1000] years old. It is about ten [10] metres long. Archaeologists found it under ground. But they believe that in the past that land was under the sea.
Voice 2
Finding the port is like a good dream for archaeologists. But, it is a bad dream for the engineers working on the Marmaray Project. It may be a long time before the engineers can finish the underground tunnel. Haluk says
Voice 5
“It is true that I lose sleep over this. I worry we will not finish by 2010. The archaeologists’ dig is the only thing that can delay the Marmaray project.”
Voice 1
The archaeologists’ work was supposed to end four [4] months ago. But, after finding the port, they will continue their work until it is finished. Archaeologist Gokcay said
Voice 4
“The Marmaray team cannot spread their cement or tunnel any deeper here. They have to wait for us. And I will continue my work here until we find the last object made by human hands. It is impossible to accept anything else.”
Voice 2
These two groups are experiencing a difficult conflict. In a conflict it is not always clear who is right and who is wrong. Are the engineers of the Marmaray Project right? They want to continue building their tunnel. Or are the archaeologists right? They want to find all of the ancient objects before the Marmaray Project continues. The answer is not clear. Maybe they are both right!
Voice 1
Conflict is not always about who is right and who is wrong. It could be that there is no right answer. It could be that two groups simply have different ideas, like the two groups we have talked about today.
Voice 2
It is impossible to avoid conflict. People do not always agree. So, everyone experiences conflict once in awhile. That is why learning to deal with conflict is an important skill. Even when people have different ideas they can still work together. They can work together to find a good compromise. Even during conflict there can be peace. In the Bible it says:
Do not be proud at all. Be completely gentle. Be patient. Put up with one another in love.
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