Ambitious proposals have been revealed for five mega-tunnels in China that could be built over the next 20-30 years.
The plans which have been put forward by Qian Qihu, a member of the influential Chinese Academy of Engineering, include a road tunnel between Fujian province and Taiwan that would be more than 100km long. Qian said the tunnels would be constructed under major bays and estuaries. Aside from the Fujian-Taiwan link under the Taiwan Strait, Mr Qian is also proposing a 100km road tunnel from Shanghai to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province and a 40km road tunnel between Hong Kong and Macau and Zhuhai under the Pearl River estuary. A 120km rail tunnel is also proposed under the Bohai Sea from Dalian in Liaoning province to Yantai in Shandong province together with a 25km rail tunnel linking the Leizhou peninsula with the island province of Hainan in southern China. Qian said: “It is unlikely that construction of any of the five can start before 2010. But around 2020, some of them could be launched. ”
