The Bering Strait Undersea Tunnel Project
One of the leading rail industry consultants in the Russian Federation.
During the early 1990s, Mr. Razbegin co-founded the Interhemispheric Bering Strait Tunnel & Railroad Group (IBSTRG) together with George M. Koumal.
While heading SOPS, Russia’s Council for the Study of Productive Forces, a joint institution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Mr. Razbegin and his colleagues completed a two-volume feasibility study about the InterContinental Railway – the most comprehensive study to date.
Member of the Expert Council for the Arctic and Antarctic of the Federation Council. Member of a number of public and expert councils of the Russian Federation
Mr. Louis Cerny is a registered Professional Engineer in Mississippi, USA. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois, with a BSCE in 1964 and MS in 1965. Many of his graduate courses were taught by W. W. Hay, author of the textbook “Railroad Engineering,” and considered the nation’s leading academic in the railway field at that time. He is the author of numerous technical articles in trade magazines and technical bulletins, and has made presentations at many technical meetings. His inspection and study of railway construction and maintenance includes inspections in the United States and of major projects in China and South America, and he has professional experience regarding high-speed lines, including the Maglev in China and TGV in France. He is involved in the planning to connect the railways of Asia and North America via a tunnel under the Bering Strait.
Dr. Peter Stockdale is a policy analyst specializing in environmental, indigenous and intergovernmental affairs. He is the host of the Kichi Sibi Trails, bringing back ancient routes and fostering reconciliation with the indigenous people of Canada, and founder and coordinator of the Free the Falls designed to protect 7,000-year-old indigenous waterfalls and capital. He is co-founder of the Department of Peace Ottawa, Canada Branch, co-founder of the Civilian Peace Service Canada and founder of the City of Peace Ottawa. He is the founder and chair for 10 years of the Conflict Prevention Working Group for Peacebuild Canada. Dr. Peter Stockdale previously participated in UPF’s Middle East Peace Initiative to Jordan, Israel and Palestine, following which he submitted a proposal to the Government of Canada and World Bank to simulate Israel-Palestine final status arrangements at border checkpoints. He is also the co-founder and secretary of UPF’s Peace Breakfasts in Ottawa, Canada.
This session brings world experts to deliberate on creating a bridge or tunnel across the Bering Strait between the Chukotka region in Russia and the state of Alaska in the United States. The link would create an intercontinental connection between Eurasia and North America, allowing unprecedented opportunities for business and cultural integration.
Since the 19th century, this bold engineering project has increasingly reappeared, both in America and Russia, in experts’ minds, government research, and the media, raising growing interest among potential investors and beneficiaries worldwide. Believing that the Bering Strait link is an idea whose time has come, the panelists will elaborate on possible ways to bring us closer to the fulfillment of this most ambitious endeavor.