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A Bering Strait crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the relatively narrow and shallow Bering Strait between the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia and the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. The bridge or tunnel would provide a connection linking North America with Asia. With the two Diomede Islands between the peninsulas, the Bering Strait could be spanned by three bridges. Two long bridges, each almost long, would connect the mainland on each side to one island, and a third much shorter one between the two islands. However, the construction of a Bering Strait crossing would face exceptional political, engineering, and financial hurdles. There have been several proposals for a Bering Strait crossing made by various persons, television channels, magazines, etc. The names used for them include ''The Intercontinental Peace Bridge'' and ''Eurasia-America Transport Link''.〔(A Transcontinental Eurasia-America Transport Link via the Bering Strait ), at the 1st International Conference "Megaprojects of the Russian East" 〕 Tunnel names have included "TKM-World Link" and "AmerAsian Peace Tunnel". In April 2007, Russian government officials told the press that the Russian government will back a $65 billion plan by a consortium of companies to build a Bering Strait tunnel.〔"Russia wants a rail link to North America," ''Der Spiegel'', April 20, 2007 ()〕 In August 2011, the ''Daily Mail'' reported that the Russian government had approved a £60 billion tunnel across the Bering Strait.〔http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/08/23/london-to-usa-by-rail-russia-approves-60bn-bering-stait-scheme/〕 The £60 billion comes from a rough Russian estimate of $100 billion.〔(Тоннелю под Беринговым проливом пророчат большой успех )〕 ==History== The concept of an overland connection crossing the Bering Strait goes back before the 20th century. William Gilpin, first governor of the Colorado Territory, envisioned a vast "Cosmopolitan Railway" in 1890 linking the entire world through a series of railways. Two years later, Joseph Strauss, who went on to design over 400 bridges, including the Golden Gate Bridge, put forward the first proposal for a Bering Strait railroad bridge in his senior thesis.〔Kevin Starr. ''Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California'', 330. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-510080-8〕 The project was presented to the government of the Russian Empire, but it was rejected.〔(An excerpt from memoirs ) of the Russian Empire Minister of Land Forces Aleksandr Rediger 〕 A syndicate of American railroad magnates proposed in 1904 (through a French spokesman) a Siberian-Alaskan railroad from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska through a tunnel under the Bering Strait and across northeastern Siberia to Irkutsk via Cape Deshnev, Verkhnekolymsk and Yakutsk. The proposal was for a 90-year lease, and exclusive mineral rights for each side of the right-of-way. It was debated by officials and finally turned down on March 20, 1907.〔Theodore Shabad and Victor L. Mote: ''Gateway to Siberian Resources (The BAM)'' pp. 70-71 (Halstead Press/John Wiley, New York, 1977) ISBN 0-470-99040-6〕 Czar Nicholas II approved a tunnel (possibly the American proposal above) in 1905. Its cost was estimated at $65 million and $300 million including all the railroads.〔 These hopes were dashed with the outbreak of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Interest was renewed during World War II with the completion in 1942-43 of the Alaska Highway linking the remote territory of Alaska with Canada and the continental United States. In 1942 the Foreign Policy Association envisioned the highway continuing to link with Nome near the Bering Strait, linked by motorway to the railhead at Irkutsk, using an alternative sea and air ferry service across the Bering Strait. In 1958 engineer T. Y. Lin suggested the construction of a bridge across the Bering Strait "to foster commerce and understanding between the people of the United States and the Soviet Union". Ten years later he organized the Inter-Continental Peace Bridge Inc, a non-profit institution organized to further this proposal.〔 At that time he made a feasibility study of a Bering Strait bridge and estimated the cost to be $1 billion for the span. In 1994 he updated the cost to more than $4 billion. Like Gilpin, Lin envisioned the project as a symbol of international cooperation and unity, and dubbed the project the Intercontinental Peace Bridge. In September 2005 when launching the Universal Peace Federation, Sun Myung Moon brought new light to the idea of building what Moon called the "Bering Strait Peace King bridge and tunnel", calling all the world's governments to make a joint effort to realize world peace. On February 10, 2009, Sun Myung Moon's "Foundation for Peace and Unification" announced a competition for the design of a bridge across the Strait via the Diomede Islands. The winner (announced June 11, 2009), was a project entitled "Diomede Archipelago". It proposes a series of artificial islands that form two archipelagos extending the two continents, and three tunnels connecting the two Diomede islands and the archipelagos. According to a report in the ''Beijing Times'' in May 2014, Chinese transportation experts are proposing building a roughly 10,000 kilometre (6,213 mi)-long high-speed rail line from Manchuria to the United States. The project would include a tunnel under the Bering Strait and connect to the contiguous United States via Canada. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bering Strait crossing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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