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. In principle, the bridge or tunnel would provide an overland connection linking Asia with North America, although there is little infrastructure in the nearby parts of Alaska and Russia.
With the two Diomede Islands between the peninsulas, the Bering Strait could be spanned by three bridges. Two long bridges, each almost 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, would connect the mainland on each side to one island, and a third much shorter one between the two islands, giving a total distance of about 80 kilometres (50 mi). Such length is not unprecedented, as the two long bridges each would be shorter than the 41.58-kilometre (25.84 mi) Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, currently the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world. 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, TV-channels, magazines, etc. The names used for them include The Intercontinental Peace Bridge and Eurasia-America Transport Link. 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. On 22 August 2011, the Daily Mail reported that the Russian government had approved a £60bn tunnel across the Bering Strait. The £60bn comes from a rough Russian estimate of $100bn.
Read more about Bering Strait Crossing: History, Technical Challenges, Economic Costs, The TKM-World Link
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