Some of you may be interested in this article. Includes railroad service.
"April 18 (Bloomberg) – Russia plans to build the world’s longest tunnel, a transport and pipeline link under the Bering Strait to Alaska, as part of a $65 billion project to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia. "
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5OJJzlp0xwM
Even coming from Bloomburgs…I’ll beleive it when I see the Ruskie trucks moving earth.[;)]
I think using the word “planned” is a bit strong. This idea has been trotted out before. Most recently about ten years ago including the plan to connect the Trans-Siberian to BC Rail. This of course is nothing new. An American fellow visiting Imperial Russia (his name escapes me) proposed a rail connection between Siberia and North America in the 1870s or then-abouts.
And straight from the horse’s mouth…
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/26.html?menu=2&id_issue=11716053
My [2c]:
The Russians are more likely to sit back and watch US dig our own collective economic grave…what with our pending CO2 regulation and our ever present Macbethian obsession with making the clean even cleaner via ever stricter eco rules and regs…then they’ll just march on into Alaska and set up shop.
Oh well. At least Alaska will get it’s long desired rail link to the outside world!
The first “modern” suggestion of a Bering intercontinental rail tunnel was propounded in a Trains Magazine editorial in the January 1991 issue. Immediately following that, a US-Russian consortium was organized to investigate the idea. “Popular Mechanics” did a cover article about tunneling under the Bering Strait only a couple of months after Trains, from whom they obviously stole the idea. There was quite a buzz in all the print media. “Trains” started it.
I got 75 bucks for that editorial. I look exactly the same now as I did in the photo at the end.
Tunnel-mania seems to be spreading. Recently I saw on the BBC news site that Spain and Morocco had signed a treaty to build a tunnel under the straits of Gibraltar. But given the experience with the channel tunnel, I cant see how such a project can ever be viable. After all, the English Channel tunnel gave rail the competitive advantage for travel between Europe’s two largest cities. But there are no cities of comparable size or distance apart for which the proposed Gibraltar tunnel could link.
Howabout just a Ferry and see how that goes…
and with the frequent earthquaks I dont see how this is feasible…
Keep in mind that the Russians have a long history going well back into the Soviet era of making grandiose proposals which turn out to be paper tigers. I doubt that in 10-15 years the Alaska RR- (former) BC Rail link will have been built…
It is a cool concept though.
I could see a pipeline as coal and oil could be moved that way but since tankers can load in Alaska with no problem there is no reason why they couldn;t load in Siberia also.
The History Channel aired an “Extreme Engineering” episode in which the topic was building a combined rail/highway/pipe bridge (not a tunnel) across the Bering Strait some time late last year. The episode dicussed the reasoning and engineering feats that would have to be overcome for such a structure to exist. I think the episode mentioned that the tunnel idea was considured (both underground or floating on the sea bottom) but i believe there were some issues about a tunnel were crossing a tectonic plate could destroy the tunnel if there was too much of a shift in the plates.
Yeah sure man, any idea dreampt up by Lyndon LaRouche has GOT to be good for America
Just like his great idea for an Eurasian Landbridge
In fact, they should put LaRouche in charge of the DM&E expansion, sometimes to get the job done it requires a man of exceptional vision, and simply told, this man hallucinates
Like everything Russa does. They will take the first shovel full of dirt. Then we pay and do all the work.
They did this the last day of WWII. They declared war on Japan. Then clamed all the spoils of Victory. We supplied them with all the products to get Germany out of their country. Then we had to pay them in GOLD for feed and house our fliers who emergency landed there.
They went in on the International Space Station. Now we are paying them to suppy the station. Now they are taking payed passengers.
Say---- Geographically speaking, isn’t there a country between Alaska and the Continental United States??? I wonder if that country might have something to say about foreign (U.S. & U.S.S.R) trains crossing it’s borders, or does that matter???
… and the real world costs for that tunnel, with it’s combined highway and rail, will probably be way more than that stated $65 billion.
…Probably double the current estimate in cost and one might only need add another 10 billion or so in the final cost if it would ever be tried…
Ah - but will it be on the US gauge (56 1/2") or the Russian one (60")? And if there’s a need to change gauges anyway, would the tunnel and connecting lines be better (i.e., cheaper and more likely to repay the cost of investment) than transhipping cargoes at Vladivostok and moving them by sea to Portland, Seattle, or LA?
Why not just wait until the results of man’s reaction to the “global warming” threat causes us to go into a global cooling phase. Then more water will freeze, causing a drop in ocean levels, making the building of the tunnel easier. [:-,]
…If it freezes then we simply could drive across on the ice.
Yes, it would matter, but not in our lifetime.[:-,]