A Bering Strait crossing is a hypothetical

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

that would span the relatively narrow and shallow

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

between the

Chukotka Peninsula The Chukchi Peninsula (also Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula; , ''Chukotskiy poluostrov'', short form , ''Chukotka''), at about 66° N 172° W, is the easternmost peninsula of Asia. Its eastern end is at Cape Dezhnev near the village ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

Seward Peninsula The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska whose westernmost point is Cape Prince of Wales. The peninsula projects about into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. The crossing would provide a connection linking the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

and

Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia and Eurafrasia) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound (linguistics), compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Afro-Eurasia has also been called th ...

. With the two

Diomede Islands The Diomede Islands (; ), also known in Russia as Gvozdev Islands (), consist of two rocky, mesa-like islands: * The Russian island of Big Diomede (part of Chukotka), also known as ', ''Inaliq'', ''Nunarbuk'' or Ratmanov Island * The U.S. isla ...

between the peninsulas, the Bering Strait could be spanned by a bridge or tunnel. There have been several proposals for a Bering Strait crossing made by various individuals and media outlets. The names used for them include "The Intercontinental Peace Bridge" and "EurasiaAmerica Transport Link". Tunnel names have included "TKMWorld Link", "AmerAsian Peace Tunnel" and InterBering. In April 2007, Russian government officials told the press that the Russian government would back a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

65 billion plan by a consortium of companies to build a Bering Strait tunnel.

History

19th century

The concept of an overland connection crossing the

goes back before the 20th century. William Gilpin, first governor of the

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the 38th State of Colorado. The territory was organized ...

, envisaged 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, and then serve as the project engineer for the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

, put forward the first proposal for a Bering Strait rail bridge in his senior thesis. The project was presented to the government of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, but it was rejected.

20th century

In 1904, a syndicate of American railroad magnates proposed (through a French spokesman) a SiberianAlaskan railroad from

Cape Prince of Wales Cape Prince of Wales (; ) is the westernmost mainland point of the Americas. It was named in 1778 by Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy, presumably for the Prince of Wales at the time, George Augustus Frederick. Discovered (for Europe ...

in Alaska through a tunnel under the Bering Strait and across northeastern Siberia to

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

via

Cape Dezhnev Cape Dezhnyov or Cape Dezhnev (; ; Iñupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Nuuġaq''), formerly known as East Cape or Cape Vostochny, is a Cape (geography), cape that forms the easternmost mainland point of Asia. It is located on the Chukchi Peninsula i ...

, Verkhnekolymsk, and

Yakutsk Yakutsk ( ) is the capital and largest city of Sakha, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of Russia's most rapidly growing regional cities, with a population of 355,443 at the ...

(around of railroad to build, plus over in North America). 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.

Czar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

approved the American proposal in 1905 (only as a permission, not much financing from the Czar). Its cost was estimated at $65 million and $300 million, including all the railroads. These hopes were dashed with the outbreak of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

followed by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There was a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

plan to create a wide-gauge railroad called the

Breitspurbahn The ''Breitspurbahn'' (, ) was a railway system planned and partly surveyed by Nazi Germany. Its track gauge – the distance between the two running rails – was to be , more than twice that of the standard gauge used in western Europe. T ...

to connect the cities of Europe, India, China and ultimately North America via the Bering Strait. Interest was renewed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the completion in 19421943 of the

Alaska Highway In 1942, the

Foreign Policy Association The Foreign Policy Association (FPA, formerly known as the League of Free Nations Association) is an American non-profit foreign policy organization. According to the FPA, the organization aims to spread global awareness and understanding of US f ...

envisioned the highway continuing to link with

Nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

near the Bering Strait, linked by highway to the railhead at

, using an alternative sea-and-air ferry service across the Bering Strait. At the same time the road on the Russian side was extended by building the

Kolyma Highway The R504 Kolyma Highway (, ''Federal'naya Avtomobil'naya Doroga «Kolyma»,'' "Federal Automobile Highway 'Kolyma'"), part of the M56 route, is a road through the Russian Far East. It connects Magadan with the town of Nizhny Bestyakh, located ...

. In 1958, engineer Tung-Yen 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.

21st century

According to a report in the ''

Beijing Times The ''Beijing Times'' () is a Chinese newspaper published in Beijing owned by the ''People's Daily''. History ''Beijing Times'' was launched in May 2001. When it started, ''Beijing Times'' had 12% of the Beijing newspaper market and its percent ...

'' in May 2014, Chinese transport experts had proposed building a roughly high-speed rail line from

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

to the United States. The project would include a tunnel under the Bering Strait and connect to the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

via

Wales, Alaska Wales (, ) is a City (Alaska), city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census the population was 145, down from 152 in 2000. It is the westernmost city on the North ...

, along the river to

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

, and along the

Alaska Highway