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Project or alternative of a £209bn tunnel would be vastly expensive and fraught with complexities, study says
Released alongside a wider so-called union connectivity review, which called for investment in road, rail and domestic aviation to better connect the four UK nations, the fixed link report found either a bridge or tunnel would be at the very edge of what could be achieved with current technology.
The tunnel would have to be so long and deep that it could only accommodate trains for safety reasons. It would take at least 30 years for either of the links to open.
...
Beaufort’s Dyke would also prove “a challenge” for the bridge because the construction would have to pass over the trench, with a span of at least 2.5 miles and foundations set back from the edge, said the study, which was led by a small team of civil engineering experts.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/26/johnson-plan-irish-sea-bridge-tunnel-rejected-official-study-expensive
Released alongside a wider so-called union connectivity review, which called for investment in road, rail and domestic aviation to better connect the four UK nations, the fixed link report found either a bridge or tunnel would be at the very edge of what could be achieved with current technology.
The tunnel would have to be so long and deep that it could only accommodate trains for safety reasons. It would take at least 30 years for either of the links to open.
...
Beaufort’s Dyke would also prove “a challenge” for the bridge because the construction would have to pass over the trench, with a span of at least 2.5 miles and foundations set back from the edge, said the study, which was led by a small team of civil engineering experts.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/26/johnson-plan-irish-sea-bridge-tunnel-rejected-official-study-expensive
For anyone who's interested, here's the report's cost estimates (on past experience with grandiose civil engineering projects, the final costs could be treble):
The article linked above is somewhat more diplomatically phrased than the one the Guardian ran in September, when the feasibility study's finding of the utter unfeasibility of the schemes was trailed:
Boris Johnson’s Scotland-Northern Ireland tunnel plans axed
Construction of ‘world’s most stupid tunnel’ scrapped as Treasury clamps down on spending
A controversial plan to build a tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland has been ditched before ground was broken, it has been reported, as the Treasury clamps down on spending.
The proposed link, described as the “world’s most stupid tunnel” by Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, had a price tag of about £15bn and the backing of the prime minister.
But an unnamed government official with knowledge of Treasury spending negotiations has told the Financial Times the plans are “dead, at least for now”.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/14/boris-johnson-scotland-northern-ireland-tunnel-plans-axed
Construction of ‘world’s most stupid tunnel’ scrapped as Treasury clamps down on spending
A controversial plan to build a tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland has been ditched before ground was broken, it has been reported, as the Treasury clamps down on spending.
The proposed link, described as the “world’s most stupid tunnel” by Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, had a price tag of about £15bn and the backing of the prime minister.
But an unnamed government official with knowledge of Treasury spending negotiations has told the Financial Times the plans are “dead, at least for now”.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/14/boris-johnson-scotland-northern-ireland-tunnel-plans-axed
£15bn/£209bn - pah! It's only money. And presumably some money's found its way into the pockets of those who conducted the study, so it's trebles all round.
A couple of things it's not clear if the report covers:
What on earth is the problem these links were supposed to be addressing?
And if there is indeed a problem - e.g. continuing wrangles over Isish customs borders, presumably expected to grind on for the next 30 years or so - how on earth would they have helped?
Or, as somebody put it more pithily on Twitter:
Link to tweet
Ed
@ebullienteddie
"We can't create a land border on the British border in Ireland, so leaving the customs union means we have to create a customs border in the sea between NI and GB"
"What if we created a land crossing between NI and GB?"
"That would fix nothing and cost billions"
"Get me a quote"
@ebullienteddie
"We can't create a land border on the British border in Ireland, so leaving the customs union means we have to create a customs border in the sea between NI and GB"
"What if we created a land crossing between NI and GB?"
"That would fix nothing and cost billions"
"Get me a quote"
The Union Connectivity Review report can be read in all its glory here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/union-connectivity-review-final-report
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