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Project Data Base
High-speed rail service is very popular with users. While these systems are being improved and extended in Europe, North America and Japan, development of traditional rail lines is a priority in Asia. WDF files list more than 100 major rail projects. Some of the more significant projects include:
Below right: The $1.5 billion AirTrain will link JFK International Airport with the Long Island Rail Road and subway and bus lines. Slated for completion in 2003, it will enable travelers to reach Manhattan in less than 45 minutes, regardless of time of day, weather or traffic.
Taiwan -- High-speed link between Taipei and Kaohsiung. $15 billion.China -- Hong Kong NW Territories. $8 billion.
UK -- Systemwide upgrade. $17 billion.
Germany -- Berlin to Hamburg maglev. $5.5 billion.
USA -- Hudson River freight crossing, New York-New-Jersey tunnel. $5 billion.
Australia -- Sydney to Canberra high speed.
USA -- Proposed $2 billion commuter rail for Atlanta metro.
USA -- Proposed high-speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco. $22 billion.
Mexico -- Proposed Tehuantepec Peninsula link from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz.
USA -- Memphis Super Terminal for 6 rail lines.USA -- Bering Strait Tunnel, plus 5,000 miles (8,045 km.) of new line. $40 billion.
Portugal -- Lisbon to Oporto high-speed rail under construction.
USA -- Alameda Corridor, under construction. $1.8 billion.
USA -- Los Angeles County light rail system. $8 billion.
Germany -- Frankfurt to Cologne high-speed line. $4 billion.
USA -- Seattle rail system, tunnels. $1.9 billion.
France -- New Paris to Strasbourg TGV line. $3.1 billion.
UK -- London chunnel high-speed link. $7 billion.
Canada -- Toronto to Montreal high-speed link. $10 billion.
France -- New TGV link from Marseilles to Valence. $4.5 billion.
Above: The Alameda Corridor will provide a rail link between downtown Los Angeles and the ports. Completion is 2002.
Highways
During recent years we have discussed the concept of a great global highway (see map) that would connect five continents and more than 100 of the world's most important cities. This proposed route extends from Scandinavia across the Great Belt to Europe, then through the proposed tunnel at Gibraltar to Africa, down the West Coast of Africa, back up the East Coast, along the eastern end of the Mediterranean, then from Istanbul to Shanghai following the historic Silk Road path, northward along the Siberian coast, through the proposed tunnel under the Bering Strait, then along the Pan American Highway and across North, Central, and South America.
One of the most important links in this great route is the so-called Eurasian Land Bridge. Currently there are proposals for a northern route from Berlin and Moscow to Beijing, a central route across China, and a southern route via India to Singapore. All three links are needed.
The United States has launched a new $9 billion highway construction program. Egypt is building two bridges across the Suez Canal and several across the Nile. Chile is undertaking a $3 billion north-south highway. Construction of a bridge between Italy and Sicily at Messina may be getting underway after many delays. Hungary expects to complete a major east-west route by 2007. Malaysia has proposed a 9.3-mile (15-km.) suspension bridge to connect the Malaysian peninsula with Medan in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Japan has just completed the Tatara Straits bridge, part of a $27 billion plan for 18 bridges linking islands between Honshu and Shikoku. The proposed Pan-Borneo highway would connect Sarawak, Brunei, and Sabah. Israel is building a $1 billion Trans-Israel toll road.
Other significant projects include:
UK/France -- Proposed additional "Chunnel." $20 billion.
Korea -- Bridge from Seoul to Inchon airport. $1.2 billion.
USA -- new 350-mile (563-km.) I-66 across Kentucky. $1 billion.
China -- Opening of Jiangyin bridge over Yangtze 120 miles (193 km.) west of Shanghai.
Turkey -- Project "Marmaray" will provide rail crossing of Bosporus via tunnel.
Chile - 3,000-mile (4,827-km.) north-south highway. $3 billion.
China -- National Highway Trunk System. New coastal link from Fuzhou to Shenzhen.
Spain -- Proposed Gibraltar straits tunnel would link Europe and Africa.
Malaysia -- Planning bridge from Malaysia to Medan, Sumatra. $6 billion.
USA -- Replace east span of San Francisco Bay bridge. $1.5 billion.
Israel - 180-mile (290-km.) cross-Israel highway. $1 billion.
Borneo -- Pan Borneo Highway to link Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak.
Japan -- Tatara Bridge from Honshu to Shikoku Island.
Croatia -- 4-lane highway from Slovenia to Bosnia.
Canada -- Highway 407 north of Toronto. $1 billion.
USA -- Second Tacoma Narrows bridge to parallel existing span.
Germany -- A fourth tunnel under the Elbe River at Hamburg.
Switzerland -- St. Aubin-Sauges tunnel on A-5 freeway.
Thailand - 35-mile (56-km.) BBBE elevated six-lane expressway in Bangkok.
Greece -- New Athens Ring Road.
Singapore -- Underground road spanning business district. $3.4 billion.
USA -- Replace old Woodrow Wilson bridge, Washington, D.C. $1.5 billion.
USA -- New I-15 route through Salt Lake City. $1.5 billion.
USA -- Boston Central Artery/Tunnel. $10 billion.
Egypt -- Suez Canal bridge with vertical clearance of 230 ft. (70 m.).
Italy -- Messina bridge. $3 billion.
Water Transport
More than 90 percent of international cargo volume moves by ship. The trend is to large container ships that can carry thousands of units. Singapore handles several million container units per year. Other leading ports include Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Rotterdam, Busan, Long Beach, Hamburg, Antwerp, Los Angeles, Dubai, Shanghai, and New York.
Competition is fierce. Around the world cities and states are investing billions in new facilities:
Brazil -- Developing a new $2 billion port south of Rio de Janeiro.
Bahamas -- Planning a new container port at Freeport.
USA -- Oakland is spending $1 billion to compete better with San Francisco and Los Angeles.
USA -- Rhode Island developing container port at the former Quonset Point naval base.
USA -- New Orleans is evaluating sites for a new Millennium port on the Mississippi River.
USA -- Los Angeles plans new container facilities said to be biggest in the world.
Malaysia -- Building "the container port of the future" at Johore.
Costa Rica -- New $2.2 billion container port at Limon.
Saudi Arabia -- Investing $2.6 billion in expansion of the Jeddah port.
USA -- The Port of New York and New Jersey has a $7 billion expansion under way.
Egypt -- New container port at city of Suez.
Korea -- New Pusan port. $3.6 billion.
Netherlands -- Expansion at Rotterdam. $2 billion.
Taiwan -- New port at Taoyuan province in northern Taiwan.
Korea -- New Ulsan port development. $2.4 billion.
Korea -- Inchon is promoting "Tri-Port" to include airport.
Australia -- New $1 billion port project near Brisbane.
Nicaragua -- Plans land bridge consisting of two ports and rail link.
In addition, the global water transport system is being extended by new projects to improve waterways. In South America, there is the "Hidrovia" project to open a 2,000-mile (3,218-km.) waterway on the Paraguay/Parana Rivers to ocean traffic. The transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama by the United States has prompted new proposals for a second "Panama" canal across Nicaragua, Honduras or Costa Rica. In Thailand, debate continues regarding the proposed Kra Isthmus canal, which would cut more than 1,000 miles (1,609 km.) off the trip from the Middle East to the Pacific Rim.
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