A fixed link or fixed crossing is a permanent, unbroken road or rail connection across water that uses some combination of bridges, tunnels, and causeways and does not involve intermittent connections such as drawbridges or ferries. A bridge–tunnel combination is commonly used for major fixed links.
This is a list of proposed and actual transport links between continents and to offshore islands. See also list of bridge–tunnels for another list of fixed links including links across rivers, bays and lakes.
History
Cosmopolitan Railway In 1890 William Gilpin first proposed to connect all the continents by land via the Cosmopolitan Railway. Significant elements of that proposal, such as the English Channel Tunnel, have been constructed since that era. However, the improvement of the global shipping industry and advent of international air travel has reduced the demand for many intercontinental land connections.
Existing or under construction NameCrossingTerminiOpenedNotesChannel TunnelStrait of DoverKent, England, United KingdomPas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France1994A cross channel tunnel was first proposed in 1802 and construction actually started in 1881 before being abandoned. Roll-on/roll-off ferry services provided links across the channel for vehicles. A road tunnel was proposed in 1979, but not considered viable. Construction of the Channel Tunnel started in 1988 and the tunnel opened in 1994. Automobiles and lorries/transport trucks are loaded onto the Eurotunnel Shuttle's enclosed railway cars (similar to auto rack/motorail railway cars) for the trip through the tunnel. A service road tunnel runs the entire length of the crossing, but is closed to general use and used only during emergencies and for maintenance. Cyclists – both amateur and professional – have crossed the channel via the tunnel on special occasions.Crimean BridgeKerch StraitCrimeaKrasnodar Krai, Russia2018The bridge complex provides for both vehicular traffic and for rail. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bridge has been attacked or damaged on three occasions: 8 October 2022, 17 July 2023 and 12 August 2023. As of August 2023, the bridge reopened at a limited capacity.Øresund BridgeØresundTårnby, DenmarkMalmö, Sweden1999Great Belt BridgeGreat BeltSlagelse, DenmarkNyborg, Denmark1998Fehmarn Belt fixed linkFehmarn BeltLolland, DenmarkFehmarn, Germany2031Bosphorus BridgeBosporusIstanbul, Turkey1973Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge1988Marmaray Tunnel2013Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge2016Eurasia Tunnel20161915 Çanakkale BridgeDardanellesGelibolu District, Çanakkale Province, TurkeyLapseki District, Çanakkale Province, Turkey2022Suez Canal BridgeSuez CanalIsmailia Governorate, Egypt2001Johor–Singapore CausewayStraits of JohorJohor, MalaysiaSingapore1924Malaysia–Singapore Second Link1998Busan–Geoje BridgeBusan, South KoreaGeoje, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea2010Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau BridgePearl River DeltaHong KongZhuhai, Guangdong, China / Macau2018King Fahd CausewayGulf of BahrainEastern Province, Saudi ArabiaNorthern Governorate, Bahrain1986Seikan TunnelTsugaru StraitAomori Prefecture, JapanHokkaido, Japan1988Confederation BridgeNorthumberland StraitStrait Shores, New Brunswick, CanadaBorden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, Canada1997Chesapeake Bay Bridge–TunnelChesapeake BayVirginia Beach, Virginia, United StatesNorthampton County, Virginia, United States1964Chacao Channel bridgeChacao ChannelAncud, ChileCalbuco, Chile2028
Proposed
CrossingTerminiNotesEnglish ChannelEngland, United KingdomFranceThere have been proposals at various times for a second channel tunnel of some kind.JerseyManche, Normandy, FranceIn July 2009, the States of Jersey were considering the feasibility of building a tunnel between Jersey (a British Crown dependency) and France. There was a revival of the idea in 2018 and 2021. It was reported in the local media that a link between Jersey and the neighbouring island of Guernsey would cost £2.6 billion.St George's ChannelPembrokeshire, Wales, United KingdomCounty Wexford, Ireland Various ferry services link Ireland to Britain and France. A number of options for an Irish Sea fixed crossing have been proposed over the years, but none are currently under serious consideration. Additionally, there was a short-lived proposal for an underground roundabout beneath the Isle of Man, connecting tunnels to Ireland, Scotland, and two to England. Another proposal was for an additional route from Scotland to the Isle of Man.Irish SeaAnglesey, Wales, United KingdomCounty Dublin, IrelandNorth ChannelRhins of Galloway, Scotland, United KingdomCounty Down, Northern Ireland, United KingdomKintyre, Scotland, United KingdomCounty Antrim, Northern Ireland, United KingdomThe Minch / Sea of the HebridesHighland, Scotland, United KingdomOuter Hebrides, Scotland, United KingdomBaltic SeaFalster, DenmarkRostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, GermanyBornholm, DenmarkSkåne County, SwedenKvarkenVästerbotten County, SwedenOstrobothnia, FinlandGulf of FinlandUusimaa, FinlandHarju County, EstoniaSuur StraitMuhu, Saare County, EstoniaLääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, EstoniaConsidered by the Estonian government between 2020 and 2023.Strait of MessinaMessina, Sicily, ItalyReggio Calabria, Calabria, ItalyElba, Tuscany, ItalyPiombino, Tuscany, ItalyThere is a project to link Elba with the Italian mainland across the Piombino Channel with a road tunnel. The feasibility project was launched by the Cacelli Partners Ltd of Riccardo Cacelli, in collaboration with the Adu London studio of the architect David Ulivagnoli.Palau, Sardinia, ItalyLa Maddalena, Sardinia, ItalyStrait of BonifacioSardinia, ItalyCorsica, FranceThe has been interest from Hyperloop One in using Hyperloop to connect Sardinia and Corsica.Adriatic SeaMarche, ItalyZadar County, CroatiaThe idea was presented by the Roman architect Giorgio De Romanis, and also called for the creation of a special company "Il ponte sull'Adriatico Srl". The bridge would be suspended above the sea at a height of , and would also allow the laying of pipes for water, oil and gas, as well as the accommodation of telecommunication cables. The idea received the support of the ex-governor of the Marche, Gian Mario Spacca. Some sources considered the project as being more realistic than a bridge between Calabria and Sicily.Strait of OtrantoVlorë County, AlbaniaLecce, Apulia, ItalyBoknafjordBokn Municipality, NorwayStavanger, NorwaySandoy, Faroe IslandsSuðuroy, Faroe IslandsVestmannaeyjar, IcelandRangárþing eystra, IcelandMellieħa, MaltaGozo, MaltaStrait of GibraltarCádiz, Andalusia, SpainTangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, MoroccoStrait of SicilySicily, ItalyTunisiaGulf of AqabaSouth Sinai Governorate, EgyptTabuk Province, Saudi ArabiaA causeway faces considerable political hurdles as the disruption of Israeli shipping access to the Red Sea was seen as a casus belli by Israel ahead of the Six-Day War. There is a car ferry between Safaga, Egypt and Duba, Saudi Arabia. The two uninhabited islands in the strait (Tiran island and Sanafir island), which might be used for a bridge, tunnel or causeway, were disputed between Egypt and Saudi Arabia until President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt officially ceded them to Saudi Arabia in 2016/2017. The potential construction of a fixed link was cited in some media reports as contributing to the cession.Bab-el-MandebDjiboutiYemenThe Bridge of the Horns is a proposed construction project to build a bridge between the coasts of Djibouti and Yemen across the Bab-el-Mandeb, the strait between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. There are no ferry services on this route as of 2018.Red SeaSaudi ArabiaEritreaSaudi Arabia considers to develop a tunnel across the Red Sea to link its industrial city of Jazan with Massawa's port in Eritrea. It had the support of Pakistan and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.Zanzibar ChannelUnguja, Zanzibar, TanzaniaDar es Salaam / Pwani Region, TanzaniaPalk StraitRamanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, IndiaMannar District, Northern Province, Sri LankaMalacca StraitJohor, MalaysiaRiau, IndonesiaThe total length would be .Singapore StraitSingaporeRiau Islands, IndonesiaSunda StraitLampung, Sumatra, IndonesiaBanten, Java, IndonesiaBali StraitBali, IndonesiaEast Java, Java, IndonesiaQiongzhou StraitZhanjiang, Guangdong, ChinaHainan, ChinaA road-rail bridge has been proposed.Bohai StraitYantai, Shandong, ChinaDalian, Liaoning, ChinaTaiwan StraitFujian, ChinaTaiwan The Taiwan Strait Tunnel Project is a proposed undersea tunnel to connect Pingtan in the People's Republic of China to Hsinchu in northern Taiwan as part of the G3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway. First proposed in 1996, the project has since been subject to a number of academic discussions and feasibility studies, including by the China Railway Engineering Corporation. There exist cross strait ferries, both within outlying islands of Taiwan and between the PRC and Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan complicates any such proposal.Yellow SeaSouth KoreaWeihai, Shandong, ChinaThe Korean government considered building underwater tunnels with China, the proposed route would be between Incheon and Weihai, being considerate to build an intermediary artificial island in the route of 341 kilometers. Other Korean cities, like Ongjin, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, are considered to be part of the routes to China. Also, is part of the Chinese comprehensive development plan for the Bohai area.Jeju StraitSouth Jeolla Province, South KoreaJeju Province, South KoreaKorea StraitJapanSouth KoreaLa Pérouse StraitHokkaido, JapanSakhalin, RussiaStrait of Tartary / Nevelskoy StraitSakhalin, RussiaKhabarovsk Krai, RussiaHōyo StraitŌita, Ōita Prefecture, JapanIkata, Ehime Prefecture, JapanShikoku and Kyushu are the only adjacent major Japanese islands not directly connected by a fixed link. Road travel between the two is possible only via Honshu, a detour of up to .
Since 1995, the prefectures have been jointly conducting research into the technical feasibility of bridges over the strait and conducting basic research into natural and social conditions, and in 1998, in the "Hoyo Kaikyo Bridge Survey Report" it was concluded that the bridge would be technically feasible. The bridge proposed in the report uses a four-span suspension bridge with a central tower height of , central span length of , and bridge length of about as the main bridge, connecting the Toyo Strait with two bridges, the extension would be about .豊予海峡架橋調査 豊予海峡ルート推進協議会事務局 The total project cost is currently estimated to be about 1.3 trillion yen (US$12.1 billion).