On 3 February it was announced that China’s southernmost province of Hainan is planning a feasibility report for a 31km long tunnel or bridge across the Qiongzhou Straits to link Hainan Island with the mainland.
The Qiongzhou Straits are 22.5km wide, but a provincial official said any fixed link would be 31km long.
Wei Liucheng, governor of the province, said a special expert committee had been formed by the Ministry of Communications to consider the options available for the link. The committee has appropriated US$2.4M for preliminary research into the scheme. It is expected that the research and preparatory work will take between five and ten years.
Cost estimates of US$84.3M per kilometre of underwater tunnel have been suggested for the scheme. A price of US$2.4bn is the current allowance for the whole tunnel.
