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The Bohai Strait Tunnel will stretch for 76 miles, longer than the next two longest undersea tunnels combined
China is planning to build the world's longest underwater tunnel (AI image) (Image: MIDJOURNEY)
The world's longest tunnel that will slash a six-hour journey to just 40 minutes and cost more than £20billion to build has been given the green light. The Bohai Strait Tunnel, in China, will feature two parallel tunnels for high-speed trains stretching 76 miles.
The trains, running at speeds of over 150mph, will reduce the travel time between the cities of Dalian and Yantai by almost 90%. They will run much faster than Eurostar trains, which only operate at 100mph while traversing the Channel Tunnel.
Depending on the precise route chosen by the planners, the Bohai Strait Tunnel could be over 75 miles in length, with around 56 miles running underneath the sea bed.
A total of 56 miles of the tunnel would be underwater. This would be greater than the 24-mile Channel Tunnel and Japan’s 14.5-mile underwater section of the Seikan Tunnel put together.
The hugely-ambitious project, with an estimated cost of 220 billion Yuan (Just over £23,300,000,000) is expected to take between 10 and 15 years to complete. For comparison it took about six years to build the much-shorter Channel Tunnel.
The planned route will slash journey times (Image: wikipedia)
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Planners say the tunnel will feature state-of-the-art safety technology, with advanced ventilation systems, waterproofing, structural sensors, and emergency exits, which will help protect train passengers as they travel though the earthquake-prone zone between the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas.
The two cities are of high industrial importance. Dalian, already an important port, has evolved into a major financial, shipping, and logistics centre for East Asia. Similarly Yantai, one best known for its fruit production has in recent years seen significant developments in the areas of petrochemicals, car production, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and emerging high-tech industries.
Currently the most direct route between the two cities is the Bohai Train Ferry, which takes around eight hours to cross the strait.
The tunnel will link two major industrial centres (Image: Getty Images)
By slashing the effective distance between the cities, the Chinese government seeks to amplify their growing productivity. A government spokesperson said in 2018 that the Chinese authorities wanted to get the project under way “as soon as possible.”
Lu Dadao, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters that a tunnel across the Bohai would transform completely transportation in China. They said: “By avoiding the hubs in Beijing and Tianjin it would relieve pressure on railways between Beijing and Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai, and even Beijing and Guangzhou.”
Du Yanliang, of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Sciences, told ThePaper that the tunnel would also better connect the old industrial areas of the north-east, the Bohai economic area and the Yangtze delta.
There have been some opponents to the scheme, however, with environmentalists pointing out that the area is rich in biodiversity, and in particular is a habitat and breeding ground for the spotted seal, a Class 2 protected species. Several areas within the projected construction zone have been earmarked as potential sites for nature reserves.
Sun Fenghua from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has spoken of the need for “serious research into all issues associated with construction of the tunnel… We must not proceed until these questions are fully understood.”
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