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Mainland-Taiwan undersea tunnel planned, Dalian involved
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| By£ºQin Yan¡¡2005-5-16 8:35:07 |
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An undersea expressway to Taiwan is among the idea of digging five tunnels
to link islands and major coastal cities in 20-30 years time.
Undersea
railways would link Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province with Yantai
in East China's Shandong Province, and the Leizhou Peninsula south of Guangdong
with the island province of Hainan, Xinhua reported.
Road tunnels would
link Shanghai with Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province, and Zhuhai in South
China's Guangdong Province with Hong Kong and Macao.
Another road tunnel
would leave the mainland for Taiwan in East China's Fujian Province.
"It
is unlikely that construction of any of the five can start before 2010. But
around 2020, some of them could be launched," Qian Qihu, a member of the Chinese
Academy of Engineering, told China Daily on Friday.
"Whether or not the
tunnels can really be built will depend on various conditions, including the
status of local economic development," added Qian.
Qian first revealed
the news at a two-day Sino-Russian seminar on engineering technology held in
Beijing May 11-12.
The Ministry of Railways was not reachable yesterday,
while sources with the Ministry of Communications declined to comment on the
visionary subterranean transport network.
But it is widely held among
engineering and economic experts that building cross-sea tunnels are cheaper
than bridges.
Tunnels are also free of the influence of bad weather such
as typhoons and heavy fog.
However, bridges would also be needed in
other areas, Qian said.
Aside from the economic costs, engineers would
face a plethora of technical problems such as the best way to securely tunnel
under a sea-bed built through rock and silt.
China has listed two
undersea tunnel projects.
The first undersea tunnel was launched in
Xiamen, Fujian province. It will be 9 kilometres long and expected to be
completed by 2010. It will cost 3.2 billion yuan (US$386 million).
"In
Qingdao, Shandong Province, the construction of a 5.5 kilometre tunnel is
expected to start by the end of the year," Qian said.
Minister of
Communications Zhang Chunxian announced on January 13 that the country's planned
expressway network would include a link with Taipei.
He said the two
coasts could be linked by a tunnel or by "other means."
Zhang said the
significance of the expressway to Taipei lies in logistics, which is of great
importance in helping Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland lower their
transportation costs, sharpen their competitive edges and upgrade living
conditions "for every resident."
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(Editor:Farah Song) (From:China Daily)
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