Sea tunnel vision

Engineers at the University of Naples have developed a "submerged floating tunnel", which is anchored to the sea bed and which they claim overcomes many of the structural and environmental problems associated with traditional suspension bridges.

The technique has been accepted, in principle, by the Chinese Academy of Science and could soon be used to link mainland China near Shanghai to the islands of Zhoushan.

Antonio Fiorentino, professor of naval engineering at the Federico II University in Naples and project manager of "The Archimedes Bridge", said:

"It is much less expensive than a suspension bridge, and since the underwater tunnel has positive buoyancy and is anchored to the sea bed the weight of passing vehicles in fact reduces the strain on the cables.

The Times HigherJmay 17J2002news: international 9 ap Prepared for the worst: Israeli high-school students wear gas masks during a mock chemical warfare security drill