Mega Tunnel Projects: Myth or Reality?At first view, mega tunnel projects seem science fiction, a theatre of dreams, with little connection to reality. And yet some of them are already in operation or under construction, with lengths and construction difficulties such as to make plausible the boldest proposals. The mega tunnel projects discussed so far, in general for railway connectivity, can stretch for more than 100 kilometres to provide fixed links between relatively neighbouring regions, often strategic from the economic point of view. Or even continents, such as the planned tunnels under the Gibraltar and Bering straits, thus reshaping the mythical Pangea, the ancient supercontinent, comprising all the present continents joined together, which began to break up about 200 million years ago. The intentions to carry through with such projects are motivated by the pressure from the unprecedented demand for mobility of people and goods, which appears even more obvious in the light of the ongoing social and economical globalization.The Oresund link between Sweden and Denmark with a 8 km-long bridge and 4 km-long tunnel, the 53.8 km Seikan railway tunnel under the Tsugaru strait between Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and the main island of Honshu, opened in 1988 and at present the world's longest rail tunnel, or the 50.4 km Channel tunnel, opened in 1994 and currently in second place, are the best concrete examples of the race towards colossal infrastructure.Fruits of technologyWorks that would have seemed unfeasible just a few years ago, due to insuperable technical difficulties and prohibitive costs, now become feasible thanks to the consistent technological progress in tunnelling, the experience gained in the excavation of hundreds of kilometres of metro lines all around the world and the development of submarine geological drilling gained in oil prospecting. What counts most is works that change the face of the world's transport.The ten projects illustrated further on are only a few ideas that, if they become reality, will give a leap forward to human mobility in the first half of the century. In particular, the improvement of tunnelling techniques and construction means has allowed planners to study with realism subsea tunnels of lengths exceeding the psychological threshold of 100 kilometres. Hence plans to connect in tunnel Taiwan and mainland China (approx. 125 km), Ireland and Wales (95 km) or Japan and Korea (two stretches of 55 and 65 kilometres through the historical Tsushima island).Ireland-WalesOn the most trafficked ferry line between Ireland and Great Britain, it was inevitable to think about a solution to avoid waiting for hours to embark, especially during summer months. The tunnel solution under the Irish Sea, 95 kilometres in length, first mooted in the 1960s, entails several difficulties ranging from the great depth of waters, as deep as 160 metres in the preselected area for a fixed link.Then, the subsoil on the two shores is composed of very ancient Caledonian rock (nearly 400 million years old), therefore stable but very compact and difficult to excavate. This would have repercussions on costs, estimated to be around EUR15-20 billion but easily more than that, and construction times expected to last 10-15 years. Read E-News Weekly 3/2005.Ireland-ScotlandThe Centre for Cross Border Studies, an Irish think tank, has proposed that Ireland should join the European high speed rail network, via a new bridge or tunnel to Scotland. Stretching for 33.8 kilometres, it would span one of the last major expanses of water separating European states and allow rail passengers to travel from Glasgow to Dublin in about 90 minutes. The link would provide a massive boost to economic and social links between both parts of Ireland and Scotland, something a lot of people view as an unadulterated good. The project would also boost Ireland's trading opportunities with Europe and relieve pressure on Ireland's overloaded airports. The plan would also require costly upgrading of the 161 km Stranraer-Glasgow rail line, which is protected under European law because it is already classed as a trans-European route. But a bridge is more likely than a tunnel across the North Channel between County Down or County Antrim and the Mull of Galloway, near Stranraer. The link could be built by 2030, when trains travelling at 300 km/h could reach Paris from Dublin in 7 ½ hours.Finland-EstoniaParadoxically, the main reason to construct a tunnel under the Gulf of Finland has for Finland political roots. Building a more direct link through the Baltic countries and Poland would avoid depending on Russia as far as traffic to Europe is concerned. Another alternative also under study is a similar tunnel from Vaasa to Umeå in Sweden (approximate length of 50 kilometres), under the Gulf of Bothnia, but this corridor to Europe would be much longer.The main obstacles are the traffic volumes, rather modest according to several studies, and the geology. Indeed, the Precambrian rock in the region is among Europe's oldest, dating back to 600 million years ago, and tunnelling through such rock will be very costly. The project is estimated at EUR20 billion and would take at least 15 years to complete. Read E-News Weekly 26/2007.Spain-Morocco - Gibraltar StraitApart from calling to mind unfounded atavistic fears about deprived Islamic populations invading Europe (the Channel tunnel, for example, was impermeable to such sudden movements of population), the tunnel between Africa and Europe bears, in reality, challenging construction difficulties. The excavation depth will exceed 300 metres and, above all, the area is highly seismic. Moreover, the EUR6-10 billion price tag appears somehow optimistic and more reliable estimates on the future traffic volumes are lacking. Eight million tonnes of freight and nine million passengers are anticipated by 2025, but no one seems able to predict the future development of Algeria and Western Africa, the natural areas of influence of the infrastructure. It seems also that the risk is high for costly management costs of the tunnel. Click es/119 & ma/13. Read E-News Weekly 28/2007, 13/2007, 30/2005, 5/2005 & 6/2002.Sicily-TunisiaIt is probably the most uncertain of the mega international tunnels put forward this far. Its 136 km length is so enormous that it is planned to break up the path into five sections of 20-30 kilometres each, with four artificial islands where traffic will emerge to daylight. This has the advantage of putting more boring machines at work simultaneously, thus reducing the construction times, but it drives up the building costs. The temperature will tend to rise strongly and during operation it is estimated at 25°C even after onerous refrigeration.Doubts have also been raised over the 30 million tonnes of goods annually that the tunnel is projected to carry while private traffic will be excluded in a first phase and the 7-year timeframe for construction seems that of a Chinese metro... Compared with the building costs of the high speed rail lines, the EUR20 billion bill seems very optimistic. Lastly, the Sicily channel region is highly seismic. Read E-News Weekly 31/2003.China-Taiwan - Taiwan StraitLike other similar schemes, there are political wrangles. The project will be considered if and when the Taipei authorities find a modus vivendi with Beijing, while actually the main reason to build the tunnel is purely economic considering the strong economic growth between the two shores of Taiwan strait.Taiwanese investments, in particular in China's Fukien province, exceeded USD53 billion last year, involving 70,000 companies.From the technical point of view, the 125 km length remains a formidable obstacle although it could be split in sections, possibly emerging to the surface in the Pescadores archipelago in Taiwan strait. Other major hurdles are the completion time (15-20 years at least), the costs (there is no maximum estimate but at least USD20-25 billion seem appropriate). There also, the high seismicity of the region has to be taken into account. Read E-News Weekly 46/2005, 33/2003 & 13/2002.Japan-South KoreaJapan is maybe the country most technologically advanced to bring such a Pharaonic project as the Japan-Korea undersea tunnel to a successful end. There are already in service in the country nine railway tunnels spanning more than 13 kilometres, four tunnels of more than 20 kilometres and the Seikan tunnel (almost 54 km in length and world record) has been providing a link for almost 20 years between Honshu and Hokkaido.With this tunnel, the objective for Tokyo is to strengthen ties with the Asian continent and, in view of the reunification of the two Koreas looming ahead, even with the European markets thanks to the Russian Trans-Siberian railway, which capacity is going to be enhanced investing USD30 billion over the ten years to come to allow containers to travel in less than 20 days.After more than ten years of studies, the tunnel type and construction methodology remain to be chosen, foreseeable costs will be huge (at least USD40-50 billion although Seoul and Tokyo have strong spending capacity) and, more expectable, the area is among the most prone to earthquakes in the world. Read E-News Weekly 14/2007 & 43/2002. Sumatra-JavaBringing closer the two biggest and most populated islands of the Indonesian archipelago is something planners have been thinking about since the 1960s. But it is only because of the obvious inadequacy of ferries that a fixed link has been proposed. Annually, more than 15 million passengers and three million car drivers wait for a minimum of 2.5 hours and a maximum of 24 hours to take the ferry. The first solution for a partly suspended bridge has been dropped due to its high cost (UDS24 billion) in favour of a twin tube tunnel, each seven metres in diameter, estimated at USD2.4 billion with operating costs of USD4-8 million annually. Toll fares of USD20 per vehicle would repay the infrastructure over 35 years, and it is estimated the fixed link would last for 200 years. There also the seismic risk must be taken into serious consideration since Krakatoa island, hit in 1883 by the most violent volcano eruption with earthquake in modern history, is only 50 kilometres away. Click id/13. Read E-News Weekly 50/2006.Russia-United States - Bering StraitThis is the project that probably most stimulates the geopolitical fantasy. It is a link under, or above for others, the Bering strait that would physically unify the two biggest continents of the planet. The tunnel, more than 95 kilometres in length, would serve the interests of the US, attracted by the access to the enormous Siberian raw material riches and the import of up to USD20 billion worth of electric energy each year. Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, who represents Chukotka, the region that borders Alaska, at the Duma in Moscow is also a renowned lobbyist in favour of the scheme.The estimated USD62 billion cost includes USD10-12 billion for the tunnel alone and the remainder for at least 6,000 kilometres of new railways payable over 20 years on the freight traffic estimated at 100 million tonnes. The construction time is expected to last 10-15 years. The management company should be established by Russian and US government authorities (25% each) and private investors. Read E-News Weekly 19/2007 & 36/2002.Japan-RussiaA total of 95% of cargoes dispatched from west to east and vice versa go through the Suez Canal. New transport corridors in the Far East would considerably cut the time required for cargo delivery. Plans have been mooted for a 42 km tunnel between Sakhalin island and Hokkaido island, coupled with a 7 km tunnel between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland. Read E-News Weekly 41/2005 & 19/2005. 35/07.