The blueprints to the world’s longest undersea tunnel are to be submitted to the Chinese Government by April of this year.
If approved, Chinese engineers could start work as early as 2015 or 2016, reports the China Daily newspaper. Spanning more than twice the length of the current record holder that links Japan’s Honshu and Hokkaido islands, the tunnel will be 76.4 miles long (123 kilometres) and will look to be completed by 2026.
The structure will run from the port city of Dalian in North East Liaoning province to Yantai city in Eastern Shandong, significantly reducing travel time between these provinces down to 40 minutes from the current 1,400km eight-hour ferry ride alternative.
The tunnel plans were originally announced in 1994, at a cost of $10 billion, with completion set before 2010. However, 20 years on the project remains stuck in the planning stage. China Daily stated that the project has been proposed every year since 2009 at the annual session of China’s parliament.
