Bridge from Antrim to Scotland

[DLR]

Just pie in the sky? Looks like some are now viewing it as at least a semi-serious possibilty. I love the bit about 200mph trains

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/n...nd/6956570.stm


From Twinbrook to the Trevi Fountain

A view of the newly-completed Hangzhou Bay Bridge in Cixi, China
A similar length bridge has been built in China
It may appear to be a pipe dream to some, but the prospect of boarding a train in Belfast and waking up in Rome may only be a few years away.

A lobby group, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, has held discussions about a plan to build a bridge or tunnel from Northern Ireland to Scotland.

A project costing up to £3.5bn could connect the Antrim coast to Galloway, 21 miles away in south-west Scotland, according to the Irish News newspaper.

It would see trains originating in Dublin travelling through Belfast, across the proposed bridge or tunnel, down through Britain and across the English channel.

Track upgrades would mean trains would be able to reach speeds of almost 200mph.

In a document, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, which has offices in Armagh and Dublin, outlined the pros and cons of the link, which it believes could be in place by 2030.

The major consideration would be the high costs and low density populations in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

A similar size project, at 22.5 miles across, is the road bridge being built between Shanghai and Ningbo in east China.

The bridge, which will have six lanes and allow traffic to travel at 100km/h, will shorten the distance between China's commercial capital, Shanghai, and the major industrial port of Ningbo by 120km.

Officials plan to open the structure next year, once feeder roads and toll booths have been completed.

[clareman51]

Not a hope. Global warming will be well in place before this gets past the planning stage. Everyone will be more interested in connecting the dots in what will be the Irish archipeligo.

[Aindriu]

200MPH trains in the UK? Don't make me laugh. Eurotunnel trains can't run at the speed they do in France on UK tracks so 200MPH is a no no.

Furthermore, Do you fancy driving 21 miles across a high bridge in a high wind? It will be out of use more times than it is useable.

[ergo]

Have sailed across those waters on a stormy night - suggesta a tunnel if affordable would be lower maintenance and more useful in the long term - Isnt there a proposal to build a tunnel under the Bering Strait

[QuizMaster]

Have sailed across those waters on a stormy night - suggesta a tunnel if affordable would be lower maintenance and more useful in the long term - Isnt there a proposal to build a tunnel under the Bering Strait

...and send all the pesky injuns home.

[the hatchetman]

Just pie in the sky? Looks like some are now viewing it as at least a semi-serious possibilty. I love the bit about 200mph trains

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/n...nd/6956570.stm


From Twinbrook to the Trevi Fountain

A view of the newly-completed Hangzhou Bay Bridge in Cixi, China
A similar length bridge has been built in China
It may appear to be a pipe dream to some, but the prospect of boarding a train in Belfast and waking up in Rome may only be a few years away.

A lobby group, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, has held discussions about a plan to build a bridge or tunnel from Northern Ireland to Scotland.

A project costing up to £3.5bn could connect the Antrim coast to Galloway, 21 miles away in south-west Scotland, according to the Irish News newspaper.

It would see trains originating in Dublin travelling through Belfast, across the proposed bridge or tunnel, down through Britain and across the English channel.

Track upgrades would mean trains would be able to reach speeds of almost 200mph.

In a document, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, which has offices in Armagh and Dublin, outlined the pros and cons of the link, which it believes could be in place by 2030.

The major consideration would be the high costs and low density populations in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

A similar size project, at 22.5 miles across, is the road bridge being built between Shanghai and Ningbo in east China.

The bridge, which will have six lanes and allow traffic to travel at 100km/h, will shorten the distance between China's commercial capital, Shanghai, and the major industrial port of Ningbo by 120km.

Officials plan to open the structure next year, once feeder roads and toll booths have been completed.

Unionism grasping for air.... in light of recent demographic changes?

[FakeViking]

Have sailed across those waters on a stormy night - suggesta a tunnel if affordable would be lower maintenance and more useful in the long term - Isnt there a proposal to build a tunnel under the Bering Strait

What was the name of the large passenger ferry that sank near Stranraer in the (?) late 50's?

[factual]

200MPH trains in the UK? Don't make me laugh. Eurotunnel trains can't run at the speed they do in France on UK tracks so 200MPH is a no no.

Furthermore, Do you fancy driving 21 miles across a high bridge in a high wind? It will be out of use more times than it is useable.

I would expect that folks with cars would sit in a train-car carriage --as per the channel tunnel-- rather than drive.

Interesting that bridges of this length are now being built. In Denmark as well as China. Surely this would be great for the Irish Scottish and English economies and if fast trains to Manchester and Glasgow are built, then environmentally beneficial as an alternative to air.

However the economics will require scrutiny. The channel tunnel was successful but connected such major centres as London Paris and Brussels.

[Ard-Taoiseach]

This sounds cool, finish what the Giant's Causeway started!

[droghedasouth]

A bridge is complete nonsense from an engineering point of view.

The bridge nearing completion in China runs across an estuary in relatively shallow water including more than 10 km of mud-flats.

According to MSN Encarta, the average depth of the North Channel is from 90 to 180 m (300 to 590 ft).

The world's longest suspension bridge, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan has two piers in water that is 110 m deep and it has a main span of 1,991 meters.

Even crossing at the narrowest place the bridge would need 12 spans each the size of the worlds longest suspension bridge and typically in deeper water. The Japanese Bridge cost about 500 Billion Yen ( €3 Billion) so 12 of them would probably cost about €30 Billion.