China is planning another engineering wonder; it has drafted a plan for a 123km undersea tunnel with an estimated cost of 220 billion yuan (EUR 26.5 billion). The underwater tunnel will surpass the combined length of the current world’s two longest underwater tunnels: Japan’s Seikan Tunnel and the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France.
The tunnel will house a rail line connecting the port cities of Dalian in Liaoning province and Yantai in Shandong province.
Dalian – Yantai undersea tunnel. Source: telegraph.co.uk
“Once approved, work could begin as early as 2015 or 2016,” according to Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering who has worked on the plan since 2012.
The tunnel and its construction is not without risks. Complicated geologic structures may pose challenges in the construction, especially with two major fault zones in the region.
Read more: China Daily