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Russians plan tunnel to Alaska

Q

Queso

Suspended
Original poster
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
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The Russians are coming!! In an attempt to foster economic growth in Eastern Siberia, the Russians are proposing a $65bn rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to North America. The tunnel would be used for the transfer of energy supplies and freight, and would also incorporate cables for communications and the high-voltage transfer of electricity.

I would have thought having an undersea tunnel crossing a tectonic fault line a bad idea, but at least it'll give those scared of flying and sailing the capability of getting from London to New York by train :)

The Times (of London)
 
Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,837
850
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So they're doing this so that they don't need to use boats to travel that 100 km distance? Surely 100 km by boat isn't a big deal. Just build the high-speed trains to Siberia, and build the high speed train from Alaska to Canada (BC, which already has a train to the US), and scrap the bit about the underwater tunnel.
 
Jaffa Cake

Jaffa Cake

macrumors Core
Aug 1, 2004
19,801
9
The City of Culture, Englandshire
Abstract said:
So they're doing this so that they don't need to use boats to travel that 100 km distance?
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How traversable is the Bering Strait year round, though – does it ice up frequently? If so, then I suppose a tunnel would be an attractive prospect as it would guarantee travel between North America-Russia at any time of the year, whatever the weather – tectonic fault lines permitting, of course. ;)
 
Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,669
5,499
Sod off
They've been talking about some sort of land connection across the strait for decades, although this is much more ambitious than any I've seen before...

Hey, it's alot cheaper than the Iraq war...why not?
 
M

mags631

Guest
Mar 6, 2007
622
0
Abstract said:
So they're doing this so that they don't need to use boats to travel that 100 km distance? Surely 100 km by boat isn't a big deal. Just build the high-speed trains to Siberia, and build the high speed train from Alaska to Canada (BC, which already has a train to the US), and scrap the bit about the underwater tunnel.
Click to expand...

Shhh! Don't tell the French and English.
 
dmw007

dmw007

macrumors G4
May 26, 2005
10,635
0
Working for MI-6
Interesting idea. I like the idea of the tunnel being used to supply oil and gas to the U.S. Anything that lessens our dependance on oil from the Middle East must have some merit. ;)

Times said:
Russian officials insist that the tunnel is an economic idea whose time has now come and that it could be ready within ten years. They argue that it would repay construction costs by stimulating up to 100 million tons of freight traffic each year, as well as supplying oil, gas and electricity from Siberia to the US and Canada.
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Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,837
850
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mrkramer said:
Would you pay if his character died, or just if there was an accident on the set and he actually died?
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If there was live footage of his death and it was put in a documentary about Xenu. It would be really great to watch him placed beside a volcano and then blown up by a hydrogen bomb, but then his minions will then call him a martyr and tell us how he just reached the next enlightened Thetan level or something silly.


I don't want to give Scientologists any fuel for their fire, so....um......I guess choking on a sausage is the way I'd like to see him die. :p
 
Analog Kid

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,869
11,410
Interesting idea... Siberia's rich in natural resources. Eventually the Russians will figure out that America doesn't have much of a manufacturing economy left anymore and they'll just build a highway to South Asia...
 
MacNut

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
CT
iSaint said:
There was a lengthy special on Discovery Channel on the possibility of building a highway across the Bering Strait. It's been over a year ago. It's feasible. There's a lot to be considered to deal with the iceflow.
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They said that with the harsh winters they would only be able to build 4 months a year.
 
Y

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
This would be a lot more interesting to most people if it wasn't connecting the middle of f*cking nowhere to the middle of f*cking nowhere :D
 
Y

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
wmmk said:
Well, uh, it starts on the south side of Chicago, in a part of town I certainly wouldn't call the middle of nowhere.
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But it also goes through southern Missouri, and being a route that I've driven, probably 100 times, I can say that the extreme middle-of-nowhereness of this part cancels out any middle-of-somethingness that Chicago has :D
 
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