Chinese engineers have unveiled plans to build the world’s longest tunnel.
At 77 miles, the Dalian-Yantai tunnel on the country’s eastern coast will save travellers an eight-hour ferry ride or 900-mile road trip.
The £22billion project could start within a couple of years, with completion scheduled for 2026.
The world’s longest undersea tunnel, the Seikan in Japan, opened in 1988 after more than two decades of construction. The Channel tunnel is 31 miles long.
Engineers will submit a blueprint to the government by April for the tunnel and work could start as early as 2015 or 2016, the China Daily newspaper reported yesterday.
The tunnel will run from the port city of Dalian in northeastern Liaoning province to Yantai city in eastern Shandong, slashing travel time to 40 minutes.
At present, the journey between the cities is a 1,400-km (870 miles) drive or an eight-hour ferry ride, the China Daily said.