Construction of two seabed tunnels in Jiaozhou Bay of west Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, will start in June this year.

An official from the Qingdao City development and reform committee said that the construction report had been given the go-ahead by the State Development and Report Commission.

The dual tunnels will connect with Xuejia Isle in the Huangdao Island District and Qingdao's Tuandao Isle across the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay.

The tunnels will each measure approximately 6,170 meters and will have six lanes capable of accommodating motor vehicles at a speed of 80 km per hour.

The project is expected to cost 3.18 billion yuan (about US$392 million). It will be completed in three and a half years. The investment is expected to be recovered in about 11 years.

In a related development, a bridge, with a budget of about 10 billion yuan (US$1.24 billion), is also being built to span the bay. Construction began in June last year.

On completion, both projects will play a crucial role in promoting regional development on the Jiaozhou Bay Rim, said the local official.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2006)