Everyone likes to dream
but some really need to happen. Build
this one through Dublin and
we can be sure that the natural appeal of Ireland
will bring in a large population. The
relative cost of putting in bridges
has steadily declined which is why they are proposed, hewed and hawed about,
then proceeded with.
Bridge building and
tunnel building are both in their maturity and in heavy demand because time has
made the unaffordable affordable. A rail
road link into Ireland can inspire an industrial renaissance there.
Another comparable is
the huge island of Vancouver Island.
Agricultural limitations means that ample land exists for industrial
buildouts. Again it is only a matter of
time.
A bridge across the
Irish Sea and four other amazing plans
14
August 2013 Last updated at 07:15 ET
By
Tom de CastellaBBC News Magazine
There
are always new proposals for big-money infrastructure projects, but could these
five really change life in Britain and Ireland?
On
Tuesday, we discussed
proposals for a new road Channel tunnel,
a motorway for eastern Britain, a bridge to the Isle of Wight, billion-pound
tram schemes and a tunnel at Welwyn North.
Here
are five more projects that are either much desired or slices of blue sky
thinking.
Ireland
tunnel
A
tunnel or bridge between Britain and Ireland has been discussed for decades. It
would boost tourism and business activity on both sides of the Irish Sea,
supporters argue. But what about the engineering?
A
tunnel could provide an alternative to crossing the often choppy Irish Sea
Bridges
are normally cheaper. But a UK-Ireland bridge would have to be long. Donghai
Bridge at 20.2 miles linking Shanghai and offshore Yangshan is sometimes called
the longest sea bridge. In the most realistic locations, a bridge to Northern
Ireland or the Republic would be even longer.
A 21-mile bridge from Galloway in
Scotland to Northern Ireland was
proposed in 2007. Think-tank the Centre for Cross Border Studies put forward
the proposal to provide international rail links that could compete with air
services.
The
Chambers of Commerce of Ireland called in 2005 for a part tunnel, part bridge
link to carry trains between Tuskar, County Wexford, in Ireland and
Pembrokeshire in Wales. Three-quarters of Irish firms surveyed at the time said
that a fixed link with Europe was vital.
The
Irish Academy of Engineers has envisaged a 50-mile rail tunnel with a journey
time from Dublin to Pembrokeshire of
70 minutes.
Four
main routes have been proposed. Two run from Scotland to Northern Ireland -
Campbeltown to County Antrim, or Stranraer to Belfast.
Two
run from Wales to the Republic, a northern and southern route, where the Welsh
peninsula juts into the Irish Sea.
Blue-sky
ideas to solve airport capacity
There
is controversy over plans for new airport runways in south-east England. But
how would the public solve the problem of overcrowding at Heathrow and
elsewhere?
From
constructing seven runways at Heathrow to banning night flights, we have taken
suggestions from ordinary people and had them analysed by various experts.
Bill
Grose, former chairman of the British Tunnelling Society, says there are two
critical issues for siting the tunnel. First, the location that most supports
transport demand, and how well served that location is by rail and road links.
Second, the shortest distance across the sea.
Holyhead
to Dublin is about 50 miles of water, Fishguard to Waterford is about 45 miles
and Stranraer to Belfast is about 20 miles.
The
Campbeltown to County Antrim route is only 12 miles but the town is in an
isolated part of Scotland that would need transport links to be cut through
mountainous terrain.
The
most financially viable appear to be those from Wales to the Republic, Grose
says. "Intuitively Holyhead to Dublin is a more preferable route than the
others. It's closer to Manchester and Liverpool and connects straight into
Dublin."
Rail
rather than road would be more realistic both financially and from an
engineering point of view, he says. Rail tunnels cost about £60m a kilometre
(accounting for one tunnel in each direction).
Road
tunnels need to be about 50% bigger and a tunnel between Holyhead and Dublin
would need a ventilation island halfway, which would not be cheap. With the
Channel Tunnel historically struggling to make money on a much bigger catchment
area - the UK and continental Europe - many will doubt whether there is really
the business case for the tunnel.
Also
the benefits would be much greater in Ireland, which would gain a through-route
to continental Europe, than in Britain, which would only gain a route to
Ireland. The Irish government would be called on to provide at least half the
cost, something that might seem unlikely in these straitened times.
Cost:
Bridge at £3.5bn (2007 estimate by Centre for Cross Border Studies), tunnel
much more
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