Fu Deming, a senior engineer of the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co., Ltd (STEC), said Wednesday that according to the municipal government's outlined plan, 10 new underwater tunnel projects will be built under the Huangpu River during the next year, in addition to the six underwater tunnels already completed and another five projects under construction.

Shanghai is divided into the Pudong and Puxi districts by the Huangpu River, a busy waterway running through the city. With the fast growth of the Pudong New District, which has become of one of the most attractive foreign investment zones in China, the municipal government decided to expand the cross-river traffic networks so as to facilitate the development of both sides.

Currently, there are three underwater road tunnels, two subway tunnels and one tourism tunnel at the bottom of the Huangpu River, and the five projects under construction will open to traffic before 2004, said Fu, who is also the director of the Engineering Technique Research Institute of the STEC.

Fu said that China has adopted more and more advanced techniques from overseas countries for the underwater tunnel construction and tunnel running and management, as well as for safety inspection after all building is complete.

The underwater tunnel being built below Shanghai's East Fuxing Road is the first with double tracks and double layers in China, said Fu, noting that the tunnel connecting Outer Ring Road is the largest-scale tunnel in all of Asia.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2002)