water is a minor problem, as the strait is no deeper than , comparable to the English Channel. The tides and currents in the area are not severe. Weather-related challenges Restrictions on construction work The route is just south of the Arctic Circle, and the location has long, dark winters and extreme weather, including average winter lows of and temperatures approaching in cold snaps. This would mean that construction work would likely be restricted to five months of the year, around May to September, and centered during summer. Exposed steel The weather also poses challenges to exposed steel. In Lin's design, concrete covers all structures, to simplify maintenance and to offer additional stiffening. Ice floes Although there are no icebergs in the Bering Strait, ice floes up to thick are in constant motion during certain seasons, which could produce forces on the order of on a pier. Tundra in surrounding regions Roads on either side of the strait would likely have to cross tundra, requiring either an unpaved road or some way to avoid the effects of permafrost. Likely route and expenses Bridge option If the crossing is chosen as a bridge, it would probably connect Wales, Alaska, to a location south of Uelen. The bridge would also likely be divided by the Diomede Islands, which are at the middle of the Bering Strait. In 1994, Lin estimated the cost of a bridge to be "a few billion" dollars. The roads and railways on each side were estimated to cost $50 billion. Lin contrasted this cost to petroleum resources "worth trillions". Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering estimates the cost of a highway, electrified double-track high-speed rail, and pipelines at $105 billion (in 2007 US dollars), five times the original cost of the 1994 Channel Tunnel. Connections to the rest of the world This excludes the cost of new roads and railways to reach the bridge. Aside from the technical challenges of building two bridges or a more than tunnel across the strait, another major challenge is that, , there is nothing on either side of the Bering Strait to connect the bridge to. Russian side The Russian side of the strait, in particular, is severely lacking in infrastructure. No railways exist for over in any direction from the strait. The nearest major connecting highway is the M56 Kolyma Highway, which is currently unpaved and around from the strait. However, by 2042,