The study, announced recently by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, is the most serious attempt to end centuries of physical and economic separation from the mainland for the 500,000 residents of the island of Newfoundland.

The idea is being promoted by the newly elected Mr. Williams and several communities and businesses in southern Labrador and the north shore of Quebec, which believe it would solve major transportation delays and promote trade and tourism in Canada's poorest province.

If a proposed extension of the TransCanada Highway along Quebec's lower north shore and through southern Labrador is completed, the link would end Newfoundland's long-lamented status as the only part of Canada not connected to the national road.

But building the tunnel through the hardest granite in the world and under iceberg-strewn waters that are as deep as 90 meters would be a major engineering challenge that would likely cost more than $1.5-billion and take 12 years to complete.

The notion of joining Newfoundland to Labrador was first proposed in the early 1900s, when several promoters suggested that a causeway be used to link the areas and warm up the Gulf of St. Lawrence by stopping the flow of ice through the Strait of Belle Isle. Those ideas were never acted upon.

In 1975, an attempt to blast a tunnel to run electrical power lines from Point Amour in Labrador to Yankee Point in Newfoundland was abandoned because of financial and technical problems.

The study, which will be done by the Public Policy Research Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland and will examine the technical challenges and economic implications of building the link, is the first formal examination of a concept that has been debated since the province joined Confederation in 1949.

The idea of a multi-use subsea tunnel that would use trains to carry vehicles between the island and Labrador and could also be used for power lines and an oil and gas pipeline was kept alive by a group headed by St. John's engineer Thomas Kierans, who has been supported by Mr. Williams.

Mr. Williams said yesterday that a link would bring significant economic benefits to both the 500,000 people who live on the island and 30,000 people who dwell in the resource-rich Labrador region. A seasonal ferry service and aircraft are the only means of travel between the two regions.

"Spin-off benefits could include the creation of new jobs, growth in our tourism industry and enhanced transportation infrastructure on both the island and Labrador," he said. His government is spending $70,335 on the study, while the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is chipping in $281,339.

But Nova Scotia NDP MP Peter Stoffer recently denounced the study as a "complete waste of money."

"Danny Williams is crying about an $800-million deficit and the federal government says they've got to tighten up spending, and then they spend $280,000 on a study on something that won't happen for a very, very long time," Mr. Stoffer said in an interview.

He said the money would be better spent improving medical services in Labrador.

Mr. Kierans, who also worked on the massive Churchill Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador, has said that he's delighted that the link is being examined. He said there are 100 such immersed tunnels around the world, including one that crosses the St. Lawrence River near Montreal.

Subsea tunnels, such as the one that crosses the English Channel and was completed in 1997, have become increasingly popular. Extensive study is now being done for a proposed 27.7-kilometre tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco.

A bridge across the Strait of Belle Isle is considered impractical because of the iceberg traffic and 90-metre-deep water in the strait. A tunnel for vehicular traffic would require an expensive ventilation system.