The first undersea tunnel on the Chinese mainland is expected to
begin construction this May in Xiamen City, east China's Fujian
Province, and is scheduled to be completed by 2010, according
to Xiamen Municipal Development and Planning
Commission.??
A feasibility report of the tunnel, called the East Passage
Project, has been approved by the National Development and Reform
Commission earlier this February.
The tunnel will be about nine kilometers long and 70 meters
underwater, and will cost 3.25 billion yuan (US$391.5 million), the
municipal commission said.
The tunnel will have six lanes and a top speed of 80 km per
hour. Each end will connect to an expressway.
The tunnel project will be the third passage linking the island
of Xiamen with the mainland, joining Xiamen Bridge and Haicang
Bridge.
Upon completion, the tunnel is expected to divert about 30
percent of the traffic flow from the two bridges.
Experts who approved the feasibility study said construction of
a tunnel is the best choice, as it will protect the local
environment and resources.
A consortium headed by the Bank of
China and composed of the Agricultural Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China and State Development Bank has offered loans
totaling 2.6 billion yuan (US$313.2 million) for the tunnel
project, said Zheng Shanjie, the director of the municipal
commission.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2005)