Perhaps you've been following the 'Extreme Engineering' and 'Engineering The Impossible' TV series on Discovery Channel.

They research and present the engineering projects of the future... from skyscrapers to massive bridges.

Which do you want built?



Tokyo's Sky City

It would house 35,000 residents and host 100,000 daily workers, students and visitors. This space-age 1000m tall city in the sky might seem like science fiction, but it answers some questions about where humans might live as our most crowded cities become even more densely populated.



Bridge over the Bering Strait

For the first time since the ice age, there could be a bridge across the Bering Strait linking Asia and North America. First, engineers must learn to deal with 55 miles of violent seas and crushing ice over the Arctic Ocean.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/features/zhomepagart/featureart15.12.03/defaul32.jpg



Transatlantic Tunnel

So, if you could take the train from New York and in less than an hour reach London, would you do it? What if you had to make the journey through a tunnel 150 feet under the Atlantic? And on a magnetically levitated train traveling at 5,000 mph in a vacuum chamber?



City in a Pyramid

Imagine a self-sustaining pyramid-shaped city 12 times taller than the Pyramids in the air. And imagine that it is built on water by robots and with little help from human workers with 750000 inhabitants.



Millenium Tower

Imagine a skyscraper almost twice the size of the Empire State Building. This colossus would be a city within a city, hosting its own hospitals, schools, and a range of entertainment and retail options large enough to attract and keep the traffic necessary for the financial success of such an endeavor.

Stats:
Height: 2,755 feet, 170 stories
Resident Population: 52,000
Elevator Traffic: 100,000 people per day
Location: Hong Kong Harbor
Closest Living Relative: Petronas Towers, Kuala Lampur (1,483 feet, 88 stories)
Construction Duration: Approximately 10 years
Cost: $10 billion

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/eti/projects/gallery/t02_hzoom.jpg



Gibraltar Bridge

A bridge spanning 9 miles over the Straits of Gibraltar at the entryway to the Mediterranean would be the longest and tallest ever built. It would connect cultures of Christianity and Islam and potentially increase ties between the economies of Europe and Africa.

Stats:
Location: Strait of Gibraltar. Links Spain and Morocco.
Length: 9 miles, Two spans of 4 1/2 miles each
Height: Each tower is 3,000 feet tall. Twice as high as the world's tallest skyscraper.
Width: 5 traffic lanes, 2 breakdown lanes in each direction
Road Deck Material: Fiberglass
Length of Wire Cables: 1,000,000 miles (Enough to circle the Earth almost 30 times)
Closest living relative: Akashi bridge in Japan, world's longest suspension bridge at 12,828 feet.
Cost: $15 billion
Dangers: Wind speeds of 80 mph at tops of towers, ship collision, ocean currents, traffic, Sahara Desert dust storms

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/eti/projects/gallery/b01_hzoom.jpg

Gibraltar Bridge if placed on New York City..
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/eti/projects/gallery/b04_hzoom.jpg


Freedom Ship

Freedom Ship's designers originally planned to create an island community to provide Hong Kong-based businesses a place to relocate if the handover of that city to China were to make life difficult for them. When they applied the same model to a moving sea platform, they ended up with what would be the largest ocean-going vessel ever constructed — the minimum requirement for a city at sea.

Stats:
Length: Approximately 1 mile
Width: 3 city blocks (4,320 feet) Height: 25 stories
Weight: 3 million tons
Volume: Titanic, Queen Mary, USS Nimitz and super-tanker Jahre Viking would all fit comfortably inside. Population: 50,000 residents, 15,000 workers, 20,000 visitors/day
Construction: Hull composed of 600 120'x100' steel cells bolted together.
Location: Circles globe every two years
Closest Living Relative: Japan's Megafloat Airport, Tokyo Bay (1km long, 70 meters wide, 20 meters depth) (Series of interlocking pressurized steel boxes)
Power: 100 electric podded propulsers at 3500 horsepower each.
Cost: $9 billion

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/eti/projects/gallery/f09_hzoom.jpg

http://shipbuilding.ru/images/docs/357.jpg

Trans-Atlantic Tunnel!

Anything that could help me get from N. America to Europe faster is best IMO.

has anyone ever thought of this one (if they have, i've never heard of it although i do remember robt. moses's plan for a lower manhattan expy):

an under water and under land tunnel

• starts in either Brooklyn or Queens at the edge of the East River as a tunnel

• goes under the East River, Manhattan (with no entrance/exit)
and emerges on the New Jersey shore

forever ending the necessity of going through Manhattan to get to NJ.

how about a very long wall across the northern portion of china?

That Freedom Ship is the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer (1600 meters!). But between Freedom Ship and an Imperial Star Destroyer, I would preffer the later.

The pyramid building talked above is the Try-2004 right? (2004 meters high!)

the transatlantic tunnel seems like a "pie in the sky" dream that's not going to happen within this century.

I voted for the bridge over the bering strait. At the rate China is going it will probably (assuming nothing catastrophic happens) become the world's second largest economy. If the Japan - Korea brdige can be built then the 3 largest economy's of the world can be linked together....so it makes practical sense.

has anyone ever thought of this one (if they have, i've never heard of it although i do remember robt. moses's plan for a lower manhattan expy):

an under water and under land tunnel

• starts in either Brooklyn or Queens at the edge of the East River as a tunnel

• goes under the East River, Manhattan (with no entrance/exit)
and emerges on the New Jersey shore

forever ending the necessity of going through Manhattan to get to NJ.hmm a faster way to get to NJ?

here's my question why would anyone want to go to NJ in the first place? :rofl:

I thought i heard that the Freedom Ship was planned to be built, isnt it?

As far as I know it's still on the drawing board.

I don't know if anyone is seriously considering building it..

transatlantic tunnel.. that would be so cool

Yes! Pyramid, definitely the pyramid! It'll be SO cool to have a humongous structure in the middle of Atlantic Ocean or Pacific Ocean and it'll make a perfect summer resort. It's almost like something from Attack of the Clones, or Alien vs. Predator. Just imagine if that gets built(maybe by Hawaiian government?), I would die to just see it and take few pictures!

sky city would be most magnificent

Transatlantic Tunnel, oh my god this is crazy idea but very ambitious,
I will to look on this investment

The Transatlantic Tunnel Would Be The Best!

hmm.... i didnt think so many people would favour that....

it would be pretty cool but no one could SEE it... unlike a mile-high scraper, or a 15 mile long bridge. i thought, as all with some interest in architecture, we'd all be interested in seeing it.

i choose freedom ship. it'd be amazing to see. a kilometer-long ship.... wow.

Can't choose, but the best one for my country is the bridge over the street of Gibraltar, so I pick the gibraltar bridge.

transatlantic tunnel. so i can visit europe without ever having to take a plane

I would feel better in a plane than the atlantic tunnel.

Not the gibraltar bridge, I think they are palning on a tunnel rather. The Bering bridge looks fun.

But not very usefull.

Freedom Ship

SKY CITY! After that, millenium tower, than Gibraltar.

As long as they change the poxy name, then freedom ship. Im sure there is a reason why everything has to be "freedom" this and "freedom" that, but to be honest its getting on my bloody nerves. Id prefer a big space station the size of that to go holiday in. If they dont change the name the SkyCity. The tokyo millenium tower would be outdone by burj dubai once thats built anyway...so nothing special about that.

I like the two bridges.

Transatlantic Tunnel

what I find unusual about this list is vast differences in the projects as in the scale of complexity.

For example the transatlantic tunnel is by far the biggest project on that list. Many times larger then the 2 bridges combined so it's kinda weird that's it's all placed on the same list.

Here are my thoughts on each one:



Tokyo's Sky City
From what I've seen and read about, it seems like a highly intelligent, plausible design. And very environmentally-friendly. I really hope something like this goes ahead one day. Unlike the buildings on my 'next generation of supertall skyscrapers' (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=107471&page=1) thread, this will be a truly awesome skyscraper that really does set a new standard for height - no spires or cheating with this one! This would be my 2nd choice on the list.



Bridge over the Bering Strait
It's great, but in terms of economic/commercial importance, it's secondary to the TransAtlantic tunnel.



Transatlantic Tunnel
The engineering and construction feats involved in this would be truly staggering, but the economic/financial benefits would be even more amazing. This is the project I'd vote for.



City in a Pyramid
Sounds amazing, and I'd say it's plausible, but not for several decades.



Millenium Tower
I wouldn't vote for this. It's nothing really 'new' in terms of the concept, and we already have Burj Dubai, plus all the other supertalls being planned. It's an exciting project but there are others on this list (eg. SkyCity) which are more interesting and innovative.



Gibraltar Bridge
I don't like it, it's so monstrously huge it almost looks scary. :)



Freedom Ship
I wouldn't vote for this, either. It looks a bit unnecessary, building large just for the sake of it.

Gibraltar Bridge would be cool,but Transatlantic Tunnel would be just impossible for now

If the Channel Tunnel cant even make money then its pretty obvious that the Transatlantic Tunnel hasnt a prayer, now or ever. It will also be technologically obsolete with the eventual advent of hypersonic passenger aircraft.

Gibraltar Bridge looks so massive that i can't help but want that thing done. its just sooo huge. though, i'd be so many lanes of traffic , right?

Quick Facts:
Location: Strait of Gibraltar. Links Spain and Morocco.
Length: 9 miles, two spans of 4 1/2 miles each
Height: Each tower is 3,000 feet tall, twice as high as the world's tallest skyscraper.
Width: 5 traffic lanes, 2 breakdown lanes in each direction
Road Deck Material: Fiberglass
Length of Wire Cables: 1,000,000 miles (Enough to circle the Earth almost 30 times)
Closest bridge: Akashi bridge in Japan, world's longest suspension bridge at 12,828 feet.
Cost: $15 billion
Dangers: Wind speeds of 80 mph at tops of towers, ship collision, ocean currents, traffic, and Sahara Desert dust storms
Gibraltar Bridge (http://idol.union.edu/~ferrerf/project/text.htm)

gibraltar bridge :happy:

do the towers really have to be THAT tall?

Trans Atlantic Tunnel and the Bering Strait Bridge would make it possible to circle the globe in a car!

^but would you drive for days?

Who the hell will be driving across the Gibraltar bridge? Its not like Spain and Morocco are two giant nations, with mega cities clustered around the straits and doing tons of trade with eachother.

One ferry a day is probably all thats needed.

Grand projects can be fun, but entirely pointless and totally uneconomic projects (which each of these are) are a waste. But if some company is dumb enough to build it then I am ok with it - just dont want to see my tax dollars pissed away.

Given the current climate between Muslim and non-Muslim nations, I simply cannot imagine a bridge being built between Spain and Morocco, now, or anywhere in my lifetime. It's hard enough to get a friggin flight from New York City to Riyadh!!!

this is the city in a pyramid talked about in this thread:

TRY 2004

"The 2004 meters high Mega-City-Pyramid TRY 2004, is a partial answer to two important problems : with cities becoming more and more crowded and the environment suffering progressive damage, the time has come for the development of a megacity that functions in harmony with nature. So, the city proposed by the Shimizu Corp.'s engineers represents the ideal form of living for man in harmony with the earth.
The basic model, which brings together 204 units, has the following dimensions :
perimeter of the foundation above ground 2,800 meters area of the foundation 800 hectares infrastructure area appr. 2,500 ha gross building area appr. 8,800 ha facilities layer 1~4:residential, offices... 5~8:research, leisure... height of one layer 250.5m (x 8 = 2,004m)
In this huge tubular structure, one could find 100 storeys towers where almost 1,000,000m people could live and work. The distribution of the global 8 800 hectares of buildings would be the following one :
Some 5,000 hectares out of the gross buildings area will be devoted to residential purposes, with 240,000 (above photo above and third one below) units housing a total of 700,000 people. Each building will have his own energy resources (sun and wind). Some 2,400 hectares are assigned to offices and commercial facilities, in which 800,000 people will find gainful employement (first and second photos below) The remaining 1,400 hectares will be used for research and hotel/leisure purposes.
The basic construction of TRY 2004 is based on units each composed of a regular octahedron some 350 meters in perimeter, formed by combining two squares pyramids on top of each other at their bases. These units can be further combined both vertically and horizontally, in a way that permits expansion and enlargement, so as to allow the unrestricted construction of a three-dimensional space as large as its particular function requires.
The shafts composing each unit will make use of new lightweight materials, including carbon and glass fibers, that boasts superior strength and durability. The basic structure of the citywill be formed through the combination of horizontal and diagonal shafts in the highly rigid tube-to-tube manner of construction. The horizontal shaft, 10 meters in diameter and 350 meters long, will encompass electrical and communication networks as well as corridors and a distribution network, not to mention two different new transportation systems and observation windows. Meanwhile, the diagonal shafts, 16 meters in diameter and 350 meters long, will comprise plumbing and electrical networks, 2 elevators, and a distribution network. The nodes at which 2 shapes intersect will act as transportation foci. They will be covered with crystal glass globes 50 meters in diameter so as to concentrate sunlight that will then be transmitted throughout every corner of the city through optical fibers.
During the construction of all sections of each facility, robots willbe used in self-constructing automatic segment assembly and push-up methods. Automoization of the construction will be further facilitated by the use of uniform parts and materials.
The transport of people in the new city will be primarily conducted by 2 systems : a continuous circulatory transportation system, comprising elevators built into the diagonal shafts, for vertical transport; and a new kind of transportation system making use of linear induction that will be built inside the horizontal shafts. Access to buildings will be made through the nodes, and here one will find moving walkways, escalators and corridors, as well as elevators within each building. The distribution of goods within the city will make use of a continuous circulatory transport system for vertical conveyance, with automatic transfert loaders at each node to move goods onto container trucks or conveyor belts. This system will thus provide for the automatic distribution of goods to their respective destinations
Vertical transport system : Continuous Circulatory Transport (CCT) System number of lines 64 length of shaft min. 700m max. 2800m number of cabins 4~12 cabin capacity 50 persons maximum speed 36 km.h maximum accel./decel. 2.16 km.h.s frequency of service appr. once a minute transport capability appr.190,000 persons.h
Horizontal transport system : this system comprises small lightweight cabins propelled by linear-induction motor (LIM) devices placed at a regular intervals along the sidewalk.. number of lines 26 length of lines min. 1,400m max. 7,000m cabins per train 4~20 cabin capacity 75 persons maximum speed 40 km.h maximum accel./decel. 2.16 km.h frequency of service appr. once a minute transport capability appr.190,000 persons.h
As regards security, a "Wind-through" construction will be adoptedto reduce win-load, and vibration control and anti-earthquake devices will be installed at all points supporting the buildings within each unit to help reduce the vibration and malformation of the buildings, suspended in air, that are devoted to living purposes.
As regards energy, a waste water treatment will enable water recycling through bioreactors, and electricity will be derived from natural sources such as wind generators or solar batteries, augmented by electricity generated from garbage incinerationWaste water and solids will thus be kept to the very minimum in order to preserve the surrounding environment.

The construction of TRY 2004 would spent 7 years and its cost is estimated at nearly 88 trillions yens. This text was taken from the brochure published by SHIMIZU Corporation"




TRY 2004
http://www.die-wolkenkratzer.de/images/try202.gif
http://www.die-wolkenkratzer.de/images/try201.jpg
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cj4n-nkmc/try2004.jpg
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cj4n-nkmc/try2004-2.jpg
http://albert.firenze.net/images/cop_piramide.jpg

It would be fun to have that pyramid thing - but - cities are actually NOT overcrowded. Crowded yes, over-crowded, no. Current construction techniques are adequate in all environments here today and with all population growth scenarios that I have ever seen.

There is tons of land available and it is always cheaper to add transport infrastructure than build these kinds of sky cities.

1. A superstar destroyer
2. Aeropolis
3. Try2004

all of them are really expensive, but the one I like best and that I think it´ll be the most usefull of all is the Gibraltar Bridge

Trans Atlantic Tunnel and the Bering Strait Bridge would make it possible to circle the globe in a car!

A bridge over the bearing straight would stimulate and promote sub artic growth.Nice

That would be awesome.

I would like that we could build a DEATH STAR!! Bush would fire it at Iraq not knowing it would destroy the whole Earth!! :)

Bridge over the Bering Strait for me!
although the most avantageous to me would be the transatlantic tunnel, from NYC to europe, I would love to see a bridge over the Bering Strait. The Gibraltar seems awesome, but it's nothing when compared to driving over the Bering Strait. Imagine the road trip!
and they've started a new season of Extreme engineering, I haven't been able to watch it, but I've caught pieces of the Turning Torso episode

The Gibraltar Bridge. It's the most attainable goal with today's technology. The others might just be somebody elses illusions of grandeur.

I think the Millenium Tower is easily the most attainable of these projects.

clive, I disagree that cities are not overcrowded. Maybe Tokyo isn't overcrowded to you, but cities like Dhaka and Lagos are severely overcrowded.

How's this for "extreme engineering" ... ?
:)


Space elevator

A space elevator, also known as a space bridge, is in a class of spacecraft propulsion technology concepts that are aimed at improving access to space. A space elevator connects a planet's surface with space via a cable. It is also called a geosynchronous orbital tether or a beanstalk (in reference to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk). It is one kind of skyhook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_%28structure%29).

A space elevator on Earth could permit sending objects and astronauts to space at costs only a fraction of those associated with current means. Constructing one would, however, be a vast project, and the elevator would have to be built of a material that could endure tremendous stress while also being light-weight, cost-effective, and manufactureable. A considerable number of other novel engineering problems would also have to be solved to make a space elevator practical. Today's technology does not meet these requirements. However, optimists say that we could develop the necessary technology by 2008 [1] (http://liftport.com/research2.php) and finish building the first space elevator by 2018.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator



http://www.willfox.com/images/space/spaceelevator.jpg

excellent graphic wjfox!

Building the Freedom ship is a waste of steel. What if that ship sinks, I don't think anybody would wanna raise it back up or retrieve the steels underwater.

I seriously want to see the Millenium Tower to be completed for a few reasons:

1. This project is very possible and it could start with the technology that we have today.

2. This project's cost is quite efficient because it provides a population of 10,000 people and with those people paying fees, the developer will be able to earn some profit.

3. This tower is hoped and visioned by many people, so building it would be a dream come true for many people.

Transatlantic Tunnel !

all of these projects seem to be reasonable, excpet this freedom ship! you gotta build a new harbor for this one and you can't go through thin straits!

the gibraltar bridge and the transatlantic tunnel would both make sense for our international infrastructure! it just needs dozens of years! am not sure though if a bridge between southern spain and africa will ever pay off???

sky city is a bit ahead of time and people living in the sky wouldn't solve any problems at all!

i'd say it's a difficult question, but the transatlantic tunnel would make much sense! no pollution and much faster than plane!

I don't think so. It will be disastrous if any terrorists take bombs into the transatlantic tunnel. Maybe anything above mentioned seems having the possibility to be the aims of terrorists.
Oh, I am a little negative!
hope all the designs can come true !

but you can't live in fear only! there are so many places and things already built that could be attacked

the gibraltar bridge and the transatlantic tunnel would both make sense for our international infrastructure! it just needs dozens of years! am not sure though if a bridge between southern spain and africa will ever pay off???

It would, in spades. The benefits to tourism alone would be massive - its a bridge between two continents, not just spain and morocco, or wherever...

just wondering if there really will be many people using this bridge?
do you know which cities it will connect?

The transatlantic tunnel? Where is the plans for this monster?

just wondering if there really will be many people using this bridge?
do you know which cities it will connect?
same question
i like the Space elevator as current means of space travel are so dated and limited check out http://www.liftport.com/

Gibraltar bridge is really huge, and the project i wanna see built is Tokyo Millenium tower; its altitude is easier to reach nowadays.......!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guyz, I think there is an on going project for a Gibraltar Tunnel
not a bridge.

After all tunnels of similar climax, have already been Constructed
My favorite: Hokkaido-Sapporo (Seikan)
(This is extreme engineering!)

54Km
plus 90km emergency and auxiliary galleries
:eek2:

I think the trans-atlantic Tunnel would be pretty amazing

I choose the Transatlantic channel.. it would a really extreme challenge.. ;)

I picked the tunnel too. I dont particularly care for flying, so that sounds cool...but I think I'd probably dislike riding in there too...unless it was completely safe with absolutely NO chance of disaster.

I voted Transatlantic Tunnel too. But I like the idea " a city in a pyramid " :)

City Pyramid!

If the Japan - Korea brdige can be built then the 3 largest economy's of the world can be linked together....so it makes practical sense.
South Korea and China are separated by North Korea. ;)

The Millenium Tower, at least at the stated height of ~850m, is not "extreme". The Burj Dubai is around that tall.

How would they excavate the rubble from a transatlantic tunnel?

As I understood that it would be anchored to base of the ocean not actualy be under the sea bed

I see. That would be far safer anyway, because a separate structure would be more immune to seafloor spreading; building a tunnel underground through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is not possible.

That space elevator is amazing. 2008, though?! No way, i dont believe they can possibly have technology to build something that huge in only 3 years. It would be cool though. It would also be cool if they built a floating space colony, like the Death Star-without the huge ass laser! I voted the Transatlantic tunnel, but cmon, its not going to happen. A tunnel across the whole Atlantic-image the danger. Who will go rescue these people if a train stops or a terroist bombs a train? They would have to travel thousands of miles to get these people help. Not to mention the lack of oxygen in the tunnel, and the amount of time and cost to build this thing. Ive also heard that the U.S.Navy is interested in a floating naval station-docks,landing strips, larger quarters-much larger than our current carriers -has anyone heard about this?

On a side note, did anyone see that special on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan? Wow, what an amazing ship......... :)

This is the biggest space engineering project taking place right now, the International Space Station.



http://spaceboy.nasda.go.jp/lib/station/station/g/ss_107.jpg

i need a technical article about the city in a pyramid project.i am writing a research paper and i must have this kind of information which gonna help me while the writing proces...

could you plz help me forum citizens?

where can i find these kind of articles magazine pages etc. on the net...

if you have these plz contact me...

msn : infsphinx@hotmail.com

thank you...

Bering Strait or the Gibraltar Bridge

because they are actually feasible... not the Transatlantic tunnel

The TransAtlantic Tunnel would certainly be the coolest project, but it isn't even plausible for another 50 years. :( Also, the Sky City and Millennium Tower would be cool, but they're almost too easy compared to the others.

The Gibraltar Bridge, however, has been talked about for years. Last I heard, the Moroccan government was finally starting to cooperate and the bridge is now a real possibilty. Sure it would be tough, but it's nothing we couldn't handle. My vote goes to this one. The Bering Straight bridge is somewhat feasible, but would it ever be economical? The roads to that area of the country are closed half of the year anyways, not to mention how few people would actually drive across. Oh, and that Russian government, would they ever agree?

One question: Why did that photo show the space elevator constructed over the island of Celebes (no offense, Indonesia)?

Gibraltar Bridge is the most practical, linking 2 continents in a dense area, whereas Bering Strait Bridge just profits North America (oil)> all US seems to be thinking about... :bash:
Transatlantic tunnel, yeah right...Millenium Tower bring it on, City in a pyramid, next please...

Who the hell will be driving across the Gibraltar bridge? Its not like Spain and Morocco are two giant nations, with mega cities clustered around the straits and doing tons of trade with eachother.

One ferry a day is probably all thats needed.

Grand projects can be fun, but entirely pointless and totally uneconomic projects (which each of these are) are a waste. But if some company is dumb enough to build it then I am ok with it - just dont want to see my tax dollars pissed away.

All these projects are unnessesary. It would be better if we would build a dam between africa and europe. We could produce 50% of the power Europe needs. And we could build new cities in the partially dry mediterranian. The mediterranian valley would have the best earth and it could feed whole africa.

The trns atlantic tunnel can't be build never. It would pass an earthquake area. In the middle of the atlantic the american and the eurasian plate are cathing up and causing massive earthquakes. Would you like to have an accident miles away from the next continent? I guess no.

What"s cheaper GIBRALTAR BRIDGE or THE AFROTUNNEL same place just the Tunnel will be under water

that is true, building a tunnel over these plate boundaries where there is sea floor spreading, up to a meter a year is just not a clever idea, however imagine the reducation in flights and benefits to the environment if it were built. i would love to see the tunnel built

Transatlantic tunnel, no doubt!

How can anyone compare a project like the Transatlantic tunnel with, for example, the gribraltar bridge?!
These 2 projects are from completely diferent dimensions. The transatlantic tunnel would cost like 1000 times more than the gibraltar bridge.

i vote the pyramid thing

It seems possible, just costs a lot of money.

Would it be spain paying for the gibraltar bridge? It would never be approved if it was funded by Britain which has soverignty over gibraltar. It wouldn't benefit Britain in the slightist. I would like to hear where the funding would come from. I'd vote for the transatlantic tunnel. How ace would it be to go to the U.S. from Britain in practically no time.

All the projects in here are incredible

The Gibralter Bridge would be of huge economic benifit to both Europe and Africa, although Africa would probably benifit more. I would love to see a bridge like that being built!! It looks incredible!

The transatlantic tunnel would also be incredible, but as someone pointed out earlier, supersonic scramjet powered flight is only 30 years away, and will get you from New York to London in 40 minutes. Scramjet airtravel is the way forward, not an obscenely long(but incredibly impressive) tunnel.

The Skycities will be built in the near future, there is no question about that, but the project that caught my eye the most was the TRY 2004 construct. Incredible. Does anyone else think it looks slightly like the "Tyrell Corporation" head quarters in the classic Sci-fi film Blade runner? That was the first thing that crossed my mind, but i think the colours used in the renderings set out to mimic that sort of idea.

Wjfox I have been following the progress (or lack of) of the space elevator for a while now - i genuinely see this as the most viable way of transportting heavy goods into space cheaply for the next 100 or so years at least. It just makes so much sense, and so it angers me when people laugh the idea off as being ludicrous. It would single handedly enable us to become a far more proficient space fairing race, something that is very important to the continued development of human life as we know it, I.M.O.

All the projects are great though, apart from the Bering Strait - Its slap bang in the middle of no where.

One of the biggest problems with the space elevator - aside from the initial cost - is the vulnerability to a terrorist attack. Can you imagine if a structure this tall was attacked, and fell to Earth?? It would be catastrophic. The upper sections would probably burn up in the atmosphere, but miles and miles of the lower parts would crash down into cities all around the world.

I havn´t really read every line in this "discussion", but are there any sketches of the transatlantic tunnel that´ve thought about a BIG problem, perhaps: America moves between 4 to 8 centimetres a year, if I´m right, from Europe, because of the vulcanic actiivity on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. OK, I don´t really know much about this project. It might isn´t really supposed to be fixed to the atlantic bottom? As I said, I don´t really know, but I think there´d be quite a lot of problems with the construction of this "tunnel".

If the project´s serious, the enginers´ve probably thought about it, so this is maybe just a good example of curiosity ;)

One of the biggest problems with the space elevator - aside from the initial cost - is the vulnerability to a terrorist attack. Can you imagine if a structure this tall was attacked, and fell to Earth?? It would be catastrophic. The upper sections would probably burn up in the atmosphere, but miles and miles of the lower parts would crash down into cities all around the world.
God it would be horrific to day the least. But that got me thinking. This structure would be unbelievably strong. In fact it would probably be the strongest man-made structure in existance if built. Terrorists would have to use something very big to damage a construct of that size.

Depending on where it would be hit, I dont even think an aeroplane could take down something of such awesome magnitude and strength. But who knows....

Anyway, thats truely a worst case scenario - I am still all for this idea being given more resources to be developed.

I don't think there is much need for the Gibraltar Bridge. I think it's the most realistic in the short-term, but it would give way to even more illegal immigration into Western Europe.

The Trans-Atlantic tunnel sounds pretty unrealistic. It'd be crazy expensive. Even if you started in Newfoundland.

The Bering Strait bridge sounds more feasible. Why not tunnel it? But either way, who would be driving on it? Siberia is pretty desolate, and so is most of Alaska. Plus, transporting things by ship isn't that expensive!

Sky City sounds pretty cool, and in the future, I think we might need it.

The Pyramid idea sounds pretty similar to Sky City, except with robots.

The Millenium Tower is also similar to Sky City, but I think a pyramid shape is more functional, a tower jutting up just doesn't look that nice either.

Freedom Ship sounds crazy. No wonder it was never built, and especially now with the HK handover going smoothly, I don't think it's necessary anymore. Plus, who would pay for all that?

I think one Extreme Engineering I also saw a concept of a global road which is similar to the Bering Strait Bridge, except that it connected Africa to Europe (via Gibraltar I think) to Asia to North America (via Bering Strait) to South America, and North America to Europe (via Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, and the UK).

The toykosky city is a great challenger to modern asia building build in the middle of the sea which provide a environmental space for people to live and enjoy as no bus or car where use for this buildings with escaltor and train use in this buildings. :) :cheers: :eek2: :banana: :banana: :banana: :dance: :tiasd: :grouphug:

Why are you always talking about the risk of Terrorist attacks for each projects? There's always been terrorist attack and it's never prevented anyone to build anything...

I think the Gibraltar bridge would be awesome, but is the straight so deep that they have to build a suspended bridge, can't they build a much more economic bridge as a cable stayed multi-span bridge (as a Giga-"millau viaduc" or a giga-"Rio-Antirion" bridge) rather than a suspended with 2 big spans... :)

Transatlantic tunnel in my opinion, a great idea which would be stunning to see built.

Sky City
Millenium Tower
Transatlantic Tunnel

The Tunnel.. I don't see it happening in 100 years. It'll be awesome though.

I would built this!
http://discuss.foresight.org/~josh/tower/accel.png

http://discuss.foresight.org/~josh/tower/construction.html

Concerning the suggested other mega projects: why not to build a tunnel through the Strait of Gibraltar? This would be perhaps much easier!

An other idea would be a dam across it, which would allow gaining a lot of land in the Mediterrenean area and a lot of electric power!

Concerning the Bering strait would a dam or a tunnel perhaps also more suitable!

A transatlantic tunnel would make only sense when a magnetic suspension railway in an evacuated tunnel would pass. Such a railway would me much faster than a supersonic plane, because there are no resistive forces on the train.
However maintenance and power supply would be very difficult and require auxilliary tunnels!

MegaSkyscrapers? I think people do not wnt to live and work in them, especially after the attack on WTC on September 11th, 2001.

i voted transatlantic tunnel , but i dont think it will ever happen.

imagine an earthquacke.as already said the americas are moving away from europe a few CM a year. so the tunnel would have some problems.
the pressure under the ocean would be insane, so constructing a tunnel when 5000meters deep is crazy.rescuing a train in case of problems? impossible.

-> I read somewhere about some sort of boats who use magnetics or some other thing to fly just above the water. that could be a solution

or a semi floating structure.


for the space lift, its impossible because of the flying objects in space wich would destroy the structure, hitting it at 20000+ km/h

The Millenium Tower in Hong Kong because it is most likely to be acheived. The Burj Dubal is 189 floors and under construction, and this Millenium Tower is 170 stories. Besides, Hong Kong has the demand and money to build such a tall tower.

And who the hell in their right mind would want to drive from the no-mans land of Northwest Alaska to the barren land of Siberia, Russia? Who ever proposed this idea should take a basic class in business.

Freedom Tower, Freedom Fries, and now Freedom Ship. What's Next?

None of the above...

A WORLDWIDE HIGHSPEED RAILWAY FACILITATED BY THE BERING STRAIT BRIDGE, TRANSATLANTIC LINK, AND THE GIBRALTER BRIDGE!

(here's how I envision the general layout of the thing)(some of the lines are inaccurately drawn, I'm mostly unsure of Africa, and the Western US line would be much more likely to go through the central plains east of the rockies)
http://mock.nourism.net/worldrail.jpg

Just imagine getting on a high speed train and speeding around the Earth, exhilerating I tell you!*
This rail would connect the world at a personal level with the co-operation of many, many governments in a way airplanes do not, and would be an amazing accomplisment for mankind.
This new rail will spur development in nearly ALL areas of the world, including the resource-rich uninhabited (relatively) areas of Eastern Russia, Alaska, and Northwest Canada. New Development would also take place in North Africa, and the 'Stans area East of the Caspian Sea. This new development will do wonders to combat future overcrowding. The rail would connect nearly every major city on the planet, including Edmonton. ;)
The reason I say Edmonton (and mean it) is that the terrain on the West Coast North America is not really suited for an HSR of this magnitude (it's gotta be bloody fast!), those coastline cities can be serviced by a seperate HSR line branching out from some city East of the Rockies.

The current design of the Bering Strait Bridge already incorporates a HSR. I voted for it at first before I realized that the Gibralter and Transatlantic could be used as well. I do think the translatlantic link will never happen, it just seems too unrealistic. The Worldwide HSR can survive without it though, with the Express Route across Russia.
I don't think there's much more to say about it, it really speaks for itself.

*: If you couldn't tell, I absolutely ADORE trains, so maybe I am biased. :D

All the other "mega-city/structure" type ideas are nice, because they eliminate urban sprawl, but I would never live in one. I prefer the layout of traditional cities.
As for the Space Elevator, it would only be a good idea if we managed to colonize other planets, since trade between planets would be big business.
To construct it? Eek, maybe in a few centuries! :runaway:

worldwide rail system? hmmm....

I LIKE IT!

One of the hubs has to be dallas though just 'cause...:)

@Mock: why do you forget a branch to Australia in your worldwide railway system?

i like the millenium tower and the freedom ship .. but i think i'd rather want the millenium tower built ... theres only 1 problem i see with it .... What if there was a fire on the very top floor? .. It would also be a perfect target for terrorist attacks .. but still .. i love the look of it

Mock, I love your project.

We neeed a gibraltar bridge in New york!

@Mock: why do you forget a branch to Australia in your worldwide railway system?

That kind of thing would be an expansion later on. If you want to draw up the plans for a few dozen bridges to Australia, be my guest.

All of them a neat

Even though the transatlantic tunnel is a far fetched dream. I think that there should be serious thought to another form of transportation to counter the plane. Maybe extremely fast ship or train (transatlantic tunnel)

how about a very long wall across the northern portion of china?


That will look so cool, here are some renders, construction will start soon
http://blogs.ya.com/elcarajote/files/gran_muralla_china.jpg

I cant believe so many people want the transatlantic tunnel. It seems a silly idea to me.

I favour the space bridge.

That will look so cool, here are some renders, construction will start soon
http://blogs.ya.com/elcarajote/files/gran_muralla_china.jpg

Wow!

It looks awesome!

Can't wait until it's finished!

yeh in several thousand years from now , people will call it one of the wonders of world ill bet

I would love a bridge/tube that connects us to other planets or to the moon. The moon would then have its own share of projects like a city in the moon perhaps? Or earth colonies in space, like the ones in Gundam Seed. Space colonies that are self-sufficient.

I also like the idea of building cities that float in the air, like a gigantic floating NYC in the stratosphere. Quite impossible eh? With the current speed of our technology, it would be possible to build these things in the year 3000 AD, maybe.

Gibraltar Bridge

Transatlantic Tunnel for me

Transatlantic tunnel

The only one that has any pretense of making economic sense is the Gibraltar bridge... though really, the main beneficiaries would be on the African side and would likely pay the least towards its construction.

The transatlantic tunnel is cool, but I read somewhere that its estimated construction cost is *so* high, it wouldn't be paid for in a hundred years... even if the entire working populations of New York and London mutually traded places daily and commuted to the opposite city at $100 per trip, AND everyone who currently flies between the US and UK on any given day of the week were to take the tunnel and pay twice as much as they currently pay for airfare. Ouch. Realistically, I think we'll be taking trips up the space elevator before anyone spends a single dollar, pound, or euro on a transatlantic tunnel's construction.

Another idea that sounds cool at first is building a maglev subway along the east coast, from Boston to Miami (passing through cities like New York, Philly, DC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Orlando along the way), and a second from Atlanta to Los Angeles (with New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix, and others along the way)... with additional lower-speed stubs connecting cities that aren't quite along the path (Houston, San Diego, etc). It just *might* be economically feasible, and displace most plane travel between those cities by being cheaper, faster, and/or more convenient. The catch is, if anything happened to disrupt the service (like terrorism, or even good old fashioned stupidity and human error), rapid commercial travel between those cities would just cease to exist for a potentially long time. The nice thing about air travel is the limited impact of any single disaster. If a jet falls out of the sky, air traffic mostly continues as normal all around it. It's a lot more robust as a transportation mode.

That was an incredible episode on the Discovery Channel!

this would be badass: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=103142

if the network was large enough and single problem would not cause total shut down

I think that they'll advance with passenger jet technology so far, that they would never deal with the transatlantic tunnel.. Its a shame that they took the Concorde out of service. yea it was too expensive, but they need to make a more modern version of that jet (isnt that jets design 30+ years old?), and in greater #'s so its not soo exclusive and pricey.. of course the way things are going, that isnt going to happen anytime soon, but I think that in the future, hypesonic flight is what will take the lead..

Transatlantic tunnel just seems soo impossible.. how would they deal with the #1 problem, rough waters?? I know that this would run well under the ocean surface, but still it would seem like there is even more that could go wrong inside a vacuum tunnel under the ocean that goes all the way to London than on a jet.. they have been at pretty much the same level of tech on passenger jets since the late 50's now. I would like to see a huge technological breakthrough on that first.

Mag lev tech is very promising too... They need to start building trains that utilize this in the US, and things will change, a LOT!

I would love a bridge/tube that connects us to other planets or to the moon. The moon would then have its own share of projects like a city in the moon perhaps? Or earth colonies in space, like the ones in Gundam Seed. Space colonies that are self-sufficient.

I also like the idea of building cities that float in the air, like a gigantic floating NYC in the stratosphere. Quite impossible eh? With the current speed of our technology, it would be possible to build these things in the year 3000 AD, maybe.

I'm sorry, but that will never happen, but if that ever did happen, that will be the end of the Earth. Why? because even if we do have any ways of locking up the moon (or oter planets) to Earth, we will then loose the momentum between us (Earth) and the moon, then it would cause gravity to directly act on the tunnel or tube and would bring it down onto the Earth. By then, that object be it other planets or the moon will then break that tube and crash right onto the earth and kill us. But anyways, good try DUDE!!!!! :)

transat tunnel

ALL......................

@rocky: I would equip the space elevator with a radar, laser guns and guns in order to detect and destroy small meteorites endangering it.

But in fact, I would also like to construct a space elevator with a height of "only" 50 kilometres. Such a construction would have no problems with meteors, but would be still very usefull for launching rockets, because it would allow completely reusable spacecrafts!

I would also construct extrem high transmissions towers. For example I would built for the French longwave transmitter Allouis a guyed mast with a height of 930 metres as half-wave radiator!

I also love maglev trains. I would built a network of high speed maglev trains in evacuated tunnels in order to allow worldwide traveling without any weather problems. In addition I would design some sections in such a way, that they could be used as "overland coasters" at nighttime!
Such operation mode allows also high-speed transportation of mail and special goods.

Gibraltar Bridge of course!

-----TRANSATLANTIC TUNNEL-----

gibraltar bridge will cost 15bn? thats the same as the "BIG DIG" in Boston, what a bargain! but seriously 3000 ft towers? my god!! a little excessive for a 9 mile bridge don't you think?

The transatlantic tunnel official website. Construction to start soon :D.

http://www.transatlantys.com/



Ok it's a joke, but the website is cool.

A lot of this stuff creeps me out!!!
It seems too surreal. Especailly the transatlantic. :runaway:

That worldwide speed-train project would be very cool, and very useful. Good luck getting every country involved to oblige though :~.

Why to build a transatlantic tunnel? I think a transatlantic hoovercraft service ( http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=4341541#post4341541 ) would make more sense!

I suggest a suspension bridge over the atlantic.

i really am surprised only 5% of the forum want to see the freedom ship built! the others, with the exception of bridges/tunnels are just skyscrapers that will otherwise be built - and one that we have plenty of on this forum.

freedom ship is so unique - such an amazing idea!

Would it be spain paying for the gibraltar bridge? It would never be approved if it was funded by Britain which has soverignty over gibraltar. It wouldn't benefit Britain in the slightist. I would like to hear where the funding would come from. I'd vote for the transatlantic tunnel. How ace would it be to go to the U.S. from Britain in practically no time.
British Gibraltar is only that small cape in the right, not all the strait's coast:
http://www.globalgoods.com.br/images/Maps/Algeciras%20-%20Closer.gif http://www.find-our-community.net/region/Europe/Western_Europe/Images/Gibraltar_map.gif

...so the bridge (or, probably, tunnel) is a project between Spain and Morocco, both countries have been talking about this for years. It will benefit the commerce (all the trucks who now must take ferrys to cross the strait) and of course the normal traffic of people (tourists mostly). The bad thing: illegal inmigration.

Awesome thread.

My fav. has to be the transatlantic tunnel, though.

I'd say the Gibraltar Bridge, it's the only one which seems somewhat realistic and which i like the idea of

What about the Death Star??

On http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator there is an interesting article about space elevators!

Transatlantic Tunnel :colgate:


http://media.dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/transatlantictunnel/interactive/interactive.html





.

I know how about a bridge to the moon! Stop day dreaming folks. These projects are a bit too ahead of their time. A decade or two we could see the gibralter bridge, i don't put money on anything else

How about borg cube or earth spacedock in star trek?

Millenium Tower

Imagine a skyscraper almost twice the size of the Empire State Building. This colossus would be a city within a city, hosting its own hospitals, schools, and a range of entertainment and retail options large enough to attract and keep the traffic necessary for the financial success of such an endeavor.

Stats:
Height: 2,755 feet, 170 stories
Resident Population: 52,000
Elevator Traffic: 100,000 people per day
Location: Hong Kong Harbor
Closest Living Relative: Petronas Towers, Kuala Lampur (1,483 feet, 88 stories)
Construction Duration: Approximately 10 years
Cost: $10 billion



:lol::lol::lol::lol: This made my day...