Putin and Trump's Breakfast Could Lead to a Bering Strait Tunnel

The feasibility study for the construction of a 100-kilometer tunnel through the Bering Strait has already been created; the project is only awaiting a political decision from the Russian and US authorities.

Viktor Razbegin, Doctor of Economics and Director of the Interdepartmental Center for Integrated Regional Transport Projects at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, stated this in an interview with the Federation for Universal Peace, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.

"The project was reported at a large number of international conferences, directly to the leaders of the USA and Russia. In general, support was received from both sides, although at different times. It was always a little out of sync. Sometimes there was good support from Russia, but there was a little lack of support from the USA, and sometimes vice versa. These swings swung and swung, and until now there has been no real political decision to begin construction, although all the preliminary studies were carried out at a fairly serious level," Razbegin said.

He compared the fate of the tunnel through the Bering Strait with the fate of another well-known project.

"There is some analogy with the Channel Tunnel. It lasted for a very long time, and then one breakfast was enough, at which a political decision was made. After which it was all built. I hope that we are on the verge of such a decision being made," Razbegin predicts.

According to the scientist, the transport passage between Eurasia and America will connect 85% of the land and more than 90% of the Earth's population. Despite the lack of a political solution, the research continues, and sites are already being created on both sides.

The tunnel construction will be facilitated by the fact that there is no tectonic plate fault between the two continents. In addition, there are two islands in the strait, Russian and American, which can be used for service.

According to the project, construction will take from 5,5 to 10 years. It will be necessary to build 6 thousand km of access roads, of which 4 thousand km in Russia. The project will cost 50-60 billion dollars and will pay for itself in 15 years only in freight transportation.

_{The new railway will be 3-4 thousand km shorter than the sea route, and with the use of new technologies the speed of passenger trains can be more than 1000 km per hour. Freight transportation will provide access to Alaska's resources and will allow the development of remote areas of Russia. China, Japan and both Koreas are interested in creating the crossing and can finance the construction.}

In addition to the tunnel, plans include the construction of a transcontinental energy bridge and tidal power plants with a capacity of 200 gigawatts. For comparison, the combined capacity of all Russian power plants is 261 gigawatts. This is achievable because the tides in the Bering Strait reach up to 20 meters.

The next international conference on the project is planned for autumn. Scientists hope that by that time there will already be a political decision.