China is rapidly developing a network of high-speed railways using huge underwater tunnels, and the latest project under the Yangtze River is one of the most ambitious yet. The drilling of a tunnel over 14 kilometers long, which will connect Chongming Island near Shanghai with the city of Taicang in Jiangsu Province, has been completed.
This tunnel allows trains to travel at speeds of up to 350 km/h, significantly reducing travel times between key urban centers in eastern China.
China is investing billions in underwater railways
The project is part of a much larger railway network that will extend as far as 2,000 kilometers to the city of Chengdu. The total investment is estimated at more than 460 billion euros, which ranks this project among the largest infrastructure projects in the world.
The construction of the tunnel lasted almost two years, with the use of specialized machines with a diameter of about 15 meters, which cut the route under the river without disturbing the intensive ship traffic.
China is increasingly using such underground and underwater systems to connect regions into a unified transportation network. Currently, at least six similar tunnels are planned or under construction, which clearly shows the strategic direction of infrastructure development in the country.
Such projects not only speed up transport, but also enable more efficient use of space in densely populated areas, without affecting existing river and sea routes, reports SCMP.