Tunnel, rail and pipline between Russian and Alaska
Mind-boggling project schemed. Highway, high speed rail and pipeline between Russia and the US. Economic, political, demographic and cultural aspects are also on a grand scale.
Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a Link to Alaska
By Yuriy Humber and Bradley Cook
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.
The project, which Russia is coordinating with the U.S. and Canada, will take 10 years to 15 years to complete, TKM- World Link, which groups companies involved in the development, said in a statement handed out before a press conference with Russian officials in Moscow today.
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It will only cost 15 Billion dollars? I somehow figure it'll cost 10X that amount as we can't even build a bridge in California for a cool BILLION. Nonetheless, I look forward to the day I can DRIVE to China and Russia.
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I think you can file this under "Not in our lifetime". Not saying it will never happen, but I'd put money on Costa Rica becoming a nuclear power first.
I think you can file this under "Not in our lifetime". Not saying it will never happen, but I'd put money on Costa Rica becoming a nuclear power first.
It will only cost 15 Billion dollars? I somehow figure it'll cost 10X that amount as we can't even build a bridge in California for a cool BILLION.....
Have to agree on the cost estimate, $150B sounds more realistic. Regarding the $1B California bridge, France built a better bridge for about one third that, the Millau Viaduct. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3759307.stm
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Last edited by pierre mclopez; Apr 18, 07 at 2:20 pm.
Reason: clarity
I don't know about driving from US to Russia and China, but Google Maps already gives you driving directions from New York, NY to Paris, France (any major destination in Europe for that matter).
The only catch, you have to swim across the Atlantic . Estimated time: 29 days of non-stop swimming.
Didn't the Chunnel end up costing $30 billion in early 1990's dollars? I've got to imagine the Bering Strait project would run at multiples of that--6x doesn't sound unreasonable...
Well, there we have it. Now, we Americans can drive across the Bering Strait to begin that mistake-fare mileage run out of PEK...
Seriously, I just finished reading Tim Cahill's book "Road Fever" about his journey with Garry Sowerby, setting the land speed record from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay. Sowerby also did a record trip from Cape Town to Norway. I can see it now: A record-breaking drive from Tierra del Fuego to Cape Town via Mexico City, Fairbanks, Beijing, Tehran, and Nairobi.
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If the Russians want to spend the money- I say go for it. It would definitely be an economic boom for AK, which I am fully in support of. There has also been talks for years about connecting the Alaska Railroad to the lower 48 through Canada, and this could further encourage this activity.
It's 58 miles across the narrowest point of the Bering Strait. In comparison, the Chunnel is 31 miles long. I really don't think the US Govt will be eager to start a project like this.
Last I checked Putin is rather belligerent, and threatened to withhold energy from Ukraine, not to mention voting against the US/NATO in every UN Security Council vote. It's bad enough to be held hostage by OPEC, switching to Russia is just "out of the frying pan, into the fire".
. Estimated time: 29 days of non-stop swimming.
