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The World's Longest Tunnel
fusconed writes "Bloomberg reports that the Russian government is proposing to build an underground tunnel between Russia and Alaska for transporting goods, electricity and natural resources. The tunnel would be twice as long as that between the UK and France. The $10 — $12b cost is not something to be overlooked, but Russia claims the benefits would pay it off in 20 years. It would take 10 to 15 years to build, but being an Alaskan, it sounds good to me!"
I hope they've got a good emergency plan for when the inevitable disaster happens in the tunnel, such as the recent vehicle crash in a tunnel in Melbourne. Imagine being stuck in a tunnel 30 miles from land, under an ocean, with burning trucks and cars all around. Accidents happen all the time, and it'd be really hard to get to one in that situation.
In Alaska, the tunnel digs you!
My thoughts and prayers go out to the civil engineers responsible for maintaining 64 miles of tunnel in an international setting if it is indeed built.
Even worse, I can say it in 4 words: Pacific Ring Of Fire. Can't wait to see how they'll deal with all the earthquakes. This is NOT the English Channel!
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Being able to drop stuff on railcars and run it all the way from russia to the US is a huge bonus.
Except you have to swap railcars, because the track is a different gauge. It screwed the Germans up in WWII - oops. It will certainly slow things down here, especially when the workers in charge of loading/unloading containers go on strike every couple months. And presumably this terminal will be on the Russian side, because Russian workers are "cheaper". Enjoy your strikes...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.