On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)
Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003


Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17356912

So, it's finally really happening.

I thought they were starting on the 21st? I noted the date some time
back as it's my younger daughter's birthday.

Could be, I haven't come across the 21st date before bit nor have I
looked for it either.

Crossrail press release from Tuesday (13th March):


http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/pres...ring-machines-
ready-to-start-crossrail-dig

Excerpt:
---quote---
Today, the first of eight enormous machines, each 150 metres long and
weighing 1,000 tonnes, will begin their journey to the Royal Oak
Portal in west London from where, next week, they will start
tunnelling 6.4 km (four miles) east to Farringdon via Bond Street and
Tottenham Court Road. [...]
---/quote---

We shall see next week, then.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
77002 wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.

B2003

On Mar 16, 12:23*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. *The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.

----
Colin Williams.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:37:37 -0500, wrote:
In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel claims to employ 2,600 people[1] while Crossrail
claims 14,000[2] so it is bigger by that measure. On the other hand the
Gotthard Base Tunnel is only part of a bigger project for which I can't
find total numbers.

[1] http://www.alptransit.ch/fileadmin/d...hbau_GBT_e.pdf
[2] http://www.crossrail.co.uk/railway/benefits

In article
,
(77002) wrote:

On Mar 16, 7:49*am, furnessvale wrote:
On Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:53:04 AM UTC, Mizter T wrote:
Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.
So, it's finally really happening.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and mouth shut. *How many false starts
did the Channel Tunnel have that actually involved tunnelling underway?

Several of the Crossrail stations have been under construction for
some time. The ramps down to the portals at Paddington are substantial.

Moreover, IIRC, the cost of Crossrail has reduced slightly.

But how does it compare to the Gotthard Base Tunnel where the only planned
station (at Sedrun) was abandoned.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 07:37:37
on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is about
twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?
--
Roland Perry

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 16/03/2012 13:13, Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 12:23 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.


Asterix is set about 300 years later IIRC

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft? Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years. The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E