With a length of 7,120 metres (23,360 ft) it was a major work of civil engineering; it remains the longest canal tunnel in the world.

[2] The tunnel starts near the village of Le Rove; it provides a sea level passage through the 278 m (912 ft) maximum altitude Chaîne de l'Estaque [fr].

A proposal was developed for the Marseille Chamber of Commerce in 1879 by the engineer Guérard, but no action was taken until an act of 24 December 1903 authorised the project.

[6] Underground work began in 1910, using compressed air hammers to break through the rock.

[7] On 7 May 1916 Marcel Sembat, Minister of Public Works, accompanied by Joseph Thierry, Undersecretary of State for War, inaugurated the Rove Tunnel and the first two cranes of Port-de-Bouc.