Construction began Wednesday on a tunnel that will run under the
seabed of Jiaozhou Bay between downtown Qingdao, a leading port
city in east China's Shandong Province, and Huangdao, on the other
side of the bay.
It is the second such marine tunnel in the country. The first
seabed tunnel in China was built near Xiamen, a port in east
China's Fujian Province.
With a budget of 3.18 billion yuan (about US$ 398 million), the
seabed tunnel will also link in Tuandao Island and Xuejia Island,
said local sources.
The tunnel will stretch 7.8 km and will have six lanes capable
of accommodating vehicles at speeds of up to 80 km per hour.
The project, which was approved by the National Development and
Reform Commission last January, will go into service sometime in
the next four years, said a spokesman for Guoxin Industrial Co.,
builder of the seabed tunnel.
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)
