The Gun Of Bavaria Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=a0bsMii8oKXw April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to build the world's longest tunnel, a transport and pipeline link under the Bering Strait to Alaska, as part of a $65 billion project to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia. The project, which Russia is coordinating with the U.S. and Canada, would take 10 to 15 years to complete, Viktor Razbegin, deputy head of industrial research at the Russian Economy Ministry, told reporters in Moscow today. State organizations and private companies in partnership would build and control the route, known as TKM-World Link, he said. A 6,000-kilometer (3,700-mile) transport corridor from Siberia into the U.S. will feed into the tunnel, which at 64 miles will be more than twice as long as the underwater section of the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and France, according to the plan. The tunnel would run in three sections to link the two islands in the Bering Strait between Russia and the U.S. ``This will be a business project, not a political one,'' Maxim Bystrov, deputy head of Russia's agency for special economic zones, said at the media briefing. Russian officials will formally present the plan to the U.S. and Canadian governments next week, Razbegin said. The Bering Strait tunnel will cost $10 billion to $12 billion and the rest of the investment will be spent on the entire transport corridor, the plan estimates. ``The project is a monster,'' Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist with Trust Investment Bank in Moscow, said in an interview. ``The Chinese are crying out for our commodities and willing to finance the transport links, and we're sending oil to Alaska. What, Alaska doesn't have oil?'' Tsar Nicholas II, Russia's last emperor, was the first Russian leader to approve a plan for a tunnel under the Bering Strait, in 1905, 38 years after his grandfather sold Alaska to America for $7.2 million. World War I ended the project. The planned undersea tunnel would contain a high-speed railway, highway and pipelines, as well as power and fiber- optic cables, according to TKM-World Link. Investors in the so- called public-private partnership include OAO Russian Railways, national utility OAO Unified Energy System and pipeline operator OAO Transneft, according to a press release which was handed out at the media briefing and bore the companies' logos. Russia and U.S. may each eventually take 25 percent stakes, with private investors and international finance agencies as other shareholders, Razbegin said. ``The governments will act as guarantors for private money,'' he said. The World Link will save North America and Far East Russia $20 billion a year on electricity costs, said Vasily Zubakin, deputy chief executive officer of OAO Hydro OGK, Unified Energy's hydropower unit and a potential investor. ``It's cheaper to transport electricity east, and with our unique tidal resources, the potential is real,'' Zubakin said. Hydro OGK plans by 2020 to build the Tugurskaya and Pendzhinskaya tidal plants, each with capacity of as much as 10 gigawatts, in the Okhotsk Sea, close to Sakhalin Island. The project envisions building high-voltage power lines with capacity of up to 15 gigawatts to supply the new rail links and also export to northern America. Russian Railways is working on the rail route from Pravaya Lena, south of Yakutsk in the Sakha republic, to Uelen on the Bering Strait, a 3,500 kilometer stretch. The link could carry commodities from east Siberia and Sakha to North American export markets, said Artur Alexeyev, Sakha's vice president. The two regions hold most of Russia's metal and mineral reserves ``and yet only 1.5 percent of it is developed due to lack of infrastructure and tough conditions,'' Alexeyev said. Rail links in Russia and the U.S., where an almost 2,000 kilometer stretch from Angora to Fort Nelson in Canada would continue the route, would cost up to $15 billion, Razbegin said. With cargo traffic of as much as 100 million tons annually expected on the World Link, the investments in the rail section could be repaid in 20 years, he said. ``The transit link is that string on which all our industrial cluster projects could hang,'' Zubakin said. Japan, China and Korea have expressed interest in the project, with Japanese companies offering to burrow the tunnel under the Bering Strait for $60 million a kilometer, half the price set down in the project, Razbegin said. ``This will certainly help to develop Siberia and the Far East, but better port infrastructure would do that too and not cost $65 billion,'' Trust's Nadorshin said. ``For all we know, the U.S. doesn't want to make Alaska a transport hub.'' The figures for the project come from a pre-feasibility study. A full feasibility study could be funded from Russia's investment fund, set aside for large infrastructure projects, Bystrov said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124 Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I smell a JetNation road trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Hmm, take the Chunnel to France, drive across Europe, and Asia, take that tunnel, through Alaksa, Canada and on down.... Sod that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harris5214 Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 think they`ll ever build a bridge/tunnel from the us to europe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryK Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I have a number of thoughts. First, KUDOS on the Pabst avatar. It's definitely the best cheap beer on the market. Second, I like any oil not coming from the middle east. My only problem is the 15 year timetable. I thought the world only had 20 years of oil left. Not much time for ROI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 think they`ll ever build a bridge/tunnel from the us to europe? Nope. Too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green_blood Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 ROAD TRIP! drive from new york to astana, kazakhstan! BOOYAKASHA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 So they can build a 3,700 mile tunnel between Russia and Alaska but they cant build one between Long Island and Connecticut??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaborJet Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 So they can build a 3,700 mile tunnel between Russia and Alaska but they cant build one between Long Island and Connecticut??? The tunnel is 64 mles long. the roadways leading up to it are 3700 miles. Sounds like a lot of money to be made for a construction worker, but the conditions look dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECURB Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 So they can build a 3,700 mile tunnel between Russia and Alaska but they cant build one between Long Island and Connecticut??? Seriously... wtf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebabyny Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Nope. Too far. Actually, I have seen one of those future engineering-type shows, and it was about a tunnel between NYC and London. It does look like it is possible. The tube wouldn't sctuslly rest on the ocean floor, but be floating at some depth under the water and anchored to the floor. It was pretty interesting. Hey, if the can figure out a way to build an elevator to space, which they pretty much have, they can figure out a way to build a long trans-atlantic tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Actually, I have seen one of those future engineering-type shows, and it was about a tunnel between NYC and London. It does look like it is possible. The tube wouldn't sctuslly rest on the ocean floor, but be floating at some depth under the water and anchored to the floor. It was pretty interesting. Hey, if the can figure out a way to build an elevator to space, which they pretty much have, they can figure out a way to build a long trans-atlantic tunnel. They may figure out the engineering, but what about the cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted April 19, 2007 Author Share Posted April 19, 2007 They may figure out the engineering, but what about the cost? By the time it gets built, it will be 20 GBP to the US Dollar. Let the Brits build it with American companies using Mexican Labor and Chinese Parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 Google has a better route: Head southeast on Chambers St toward Broadway 0.2 mi 1 min 2. Turn right at Centre St 0.1 mi 3. Slight left at Park Row 210 ft 4. Sharp left at Frankfort St 0.3 mi 1 min 5. Turn left at Pearl St 56 ft 6. Turn right onto the F.D.R. Dr N ramp 0.4 mi 1 min 7. Merge onto FDR Dr N 7.7 mi 12 mins 8. Take exit 17 on the left for Triboro Bridge/Grand Central Pkwy toward I-278/Bruckner Expy 0.4 mi 2 mins 9. Merge onto Triborough Bridge Partial toll road 0.4 mi 1 min 10. Merge onto I-278 E via the ramp to I-87 N/Bronx/Upstate N Y/New England 0.6 mi 1 min 11. Take exit 47 to merge onto Bruckner Expy/I-278 E toward New Haven 1.9 mi 2 mins 12. Take the I-278 E exit toward New Haven 0.3 mi 13. Merge onto Bruckner Expy 5.0 mi 6 mins 14. Continue on I-95 N Partial toll road Entering Connecticut 62.1 mi 1 hour 12 mins ... 15. Take exit 48 on the left to merge onto I-91 N toward Hartford 36.8 mi 37 mins ... 16. Take exit 29 for US-5 N/CT-15 toward I-84/E Hartford/Boston 0.4 mi 17. Merge onto CT-15 N 1.7 mi 2 mins 18. Merge onto I-84 E Partial toll road Entering Massachusetts 40.7 mi 38 mins ... 19. Take the exit onto I-90 E/Mass Pike/Massachusetts Turnpike toward N.H.-Maine/Boston Partial toll road 56.0 mi 56 mins ... 20. Take exit 24 A-B-C on the left toward I-93 N/Concord NH/S Station/I-93 S/Quincy 0.4 mi 1 min 21. Merge onto Atlantic Ave 0.8 mi 3 mins 22. Turn right at Central St 0.1 mi 23. Turn right at Long Wharf 0.1 mi 24. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi 29 days 0 hours ... 25. Slight right at E05 0.5 mi 2 mins 26. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto E05/Pont Vauban 0.1 mi 27. Turn right at E05 5.7 mi 10 mins 28. Take the exit onto A29/E44 toward Amiens Toll road 27.8 mi 23 mins ... 29. Take the exit toward Dieppe/Amiens/Calais/A151/Rouen Toll road 1.1 mi 1 min 30. Merge onto A29/E44 Toll road 22.6 mi 19 mins ... 31. Take the exit onto A28/E402/E44 12.7 mi 10 mins ... 32. Take exit 7 to merge onto A29/E44 toward Reims/Lille/Amiens Toll road 36.3 mi 30 mins ... 33. Take the exit onto A16/A29/E44 toward Reims/Lille/Paris/Amiens-Sud Toll road 2.4 mi 2 mins 34. Take the exit toward Reims/Lille/A1/Paris-Est/Amiens-Sud Toll road 0.7 mi 1 min 35. Merge onto A29/E44 Partial toll road 6.3 mi 6 mins 36. Take the exit toward Paris/Lille/Reims/Saint-Quentin 0.4 mi 37. Merge onto A29/E44 Partial toll road 19.6 mi 16 mins ... 38. Take exit 53-Gare T.G.V. to merge onto A1/E15/E19/L'Autoroute du Nord toward Lille/Bruxelles/P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Division Marduk Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 By the time it gets built, it will be 20 GBP to the US Dollar. Let the Brits build it with American companies using Mexican Labor and Chinese Parts. So the Brits will still be refusing to use the Euro? Excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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