The Finland to Estonia undersea rail tunnel project led by businessman Peter Vesterbacka has taken a step forward.
He announced Tuesday that his firm, Finest Bay Area Development, is planning to sign a letter of intent with China Railway Group Limited (CREC) to carry out the project.....MUCH MORE
CREC specialises in major railroad projects with expertise in underground drilling, according to Vesterbacka.
“We plan to sign a letter of intent with China’s CREC, the world’s largest building company, this week,” he said.
The construction giant has reportedly drilled and constructed more than 18,000 km of railway tunnels in China.
“The expertise is there,” Vesterbacka said.
Finest Bay Area Development’s current partners – construction firm Ains Group (A-insinöörit), consulting and engineering company Pöyry as well as construction firm Fira – will continue to participate in the project.
€15 billion from China
The price tag for the project is around 15 billion euros, which would largely come from a funding deal with a Chinese investment firm. About 12.5 billion euros of the overall cost would go towards construction.
Drilling and constructing the tunnel will take an estimated six years, and the undertaking has been estimated to amount to 20,000 person-years of labour....
As noted in last March's "Belt and Road (and Tunnel): '€15bn Chinese funding deal for Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel'":
The tunnel will pass directly under the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, upon which our incessant posting may be becoming wearying to loyal reader:
