Bering Strait Bridge

The Bering Strait bridge is a theoretical structure over Bering straith connecting Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka, Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska, United States. This link would connect Asia, Africa and Europe with North and South America. This bridge could be spanned by a series of three bridges via the Diomede Islands, and would be long about 80 km (or 50 miles). Two of three bridges between islands would be longer than currently longest sea-crossing bridge in the world – Hangzhoy Bay Bridge.

Route of Bridge would lie just south of the Arctic Circle. There is a very long, dark winters and extreme weather conditions (winter average lows -20°C down to -50°C). Maintenance of any exposed roadway would be difficult and closures frequent. Even maintenance of enclosed roadways and pipelines could also be affected by winter weather.

Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers. Specially shaped massive piers along the ocean floor would be needed to keep the bridge stable.

Constructing building this large would demand extreme engineering, and some solutions never used before

The bridge would require 220 massive piers, each planted in violent waters in the strait.

Only way to build bridge in conditions when you can work only few months in a year is to place constructed segments directly on building sites.

 Top level – roadway could be used only 4 months in a year, during the arctic summer.

In those Arctic conditions, most of the year Ocean contains large parts of ice. For breaking ice parts, each  pier would be shaped in a way to break incoming ice plate.

Some predictions about cost of building bridge like this with a highway, double track rail and pipelines, would be about $105 billion, which excludes the cost of new roads and railways to reach the bridge. The cost for the connections would be high. Alone, a road to the Fairbanks area, about 700 miles, would cost at least $6 billion. The distances on the Russian side are larger than that. A railway would have to be much longer, and cost much more money.

Another problem with the bridge could be fact that area around the Bridge is extremely remote and sparsely populated. There is no existing car or rail ferry service as there are no roads or railways for it to serve.

In February 10, 2009 was announced private competition about design of a bridge, across the strait. Winner will be known at June 11, 2009

Also known names for this bridge are The Intercontinental Peace Bridge and Eurasia – America Transport Link