Bridge to Northern Ireland mooted

BBC News
22 August 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6958191.stm


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44072000/jpg/_44072427_mullofgalloway203.jpg
The bridge would link Galloway
to Northern Ireland

A 21-mile bridge spanning the North Channel of the Irish Sea - from Galloway to Northern Ireland - has been proposed by a think tank.

The Centre for Cross Border Studies believes the bridge could provide international rail links and ease the strain on air services.

Group director Andy Pollak admitted it would be a massive engineering challenge and would cost about £3.5bn.

However, he claimed the gains could well outweigh the costs.

The lobby group said the scheme could use either a tunnel or bridge to link the two countries.

It would see trains originating in Dublin travelling through Belfast across to Stranraer and then to Glasgow before heading down through Britain and across the English channel.

"There is already a longer bridge being built but obviously it is a massive engineering challenge and a massive financial challenge"

Andy Pollak
CCBS director

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

In a document the CCBS outlined the pros and cons of the link, which it believes could be in place by 2030.

"It struck me that the gains to be obtained from building a bridge which might cost a couple of billion across the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland would outweigh the cost," said Mr Pollak.

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

"There is already a longer bridge being built but obviously it is a massive engineering challenge and a massive financial challenge," said Mr Pollak.

"But my understanding is that the Scottish government, Irish government and Northern Irish government feel that better links between Scotland and Ireland would be an unadulterated good."

'Ambitious idea'

He said that if Scotland and Northern Ireland worked together they might also be able to draw in European funding.

"It is just an idea - a very, very ambitious idea," said Mr Pollak.

"But I put it forward because it could be one of the triggers to the next phase of Ireland's economic development.

"And who is to say that it couldn't also be part of the next phase in Scotland's economic development?"

Shanghai and Ningbo have much larger populations than SW Scotland and Northern Ireland, I just can't see the potential demand justifying the cost.

I'm sure £3.5bn could be put to better use improving Glasgow and Belfast's local transport, Inter-Irish links and Glasgow's connections with the rest of Britain.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/3/3b/320px-IrishSeaReliefMap.jpg

From Twinbrook to the Trevi Fountain

BBC News
21 August 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6956570.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42428000/jpg/_42428096_bridge_203body_ap.jpg
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.

a big challeng indeed :uh:

Indeed.

Unfortunately the report's authors do not seem to have done their homework. The stretch of water in question contains Beaufort's Dyke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort's_Dyke), a 300m deep, 3.5km wide chasm in the Irish Sea (that also happens to now be filled with all sorts of nasty obsolete weaponary). Assuming that a 3.5km span bridge could be built at sea, I doubt the whole project would cost £3.5bn given that the proposed new Forth road bridge is now expected to cost £3bn...

Bridge over troubled water.

Why not a bridge from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland over to Northern Ireland. This 12 mile wide isthmus is the only point where the Islands of Britain and Ireland can be seen from each other. Granted the Mull may be too rugged, but it's the narrowest point between the islands...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mull_Of_Kintyre

On second thought... a tunnel would probably be preferable, since there is often fog in that area of the coasts.

You can not only see Northern Ireland from Scotland's Mull of Kintyre, but on clear days, you can also see Donegal in the Irish Republic as well.