On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:28:43 GMT, wrote:

On another note, what is the deal for a prospective tunnel connection to
Ireland? I seem to recall talk about this in times past but, because the
earth between the two islands is largely sand, it is quite difficult to
build any sort of subterranean structure there.

A tunnel from Holyhead to Dublin would be nearly twice the length of
the channel tunnel, though proposals do get raised every now and then.
The shortest Irish Sea crossing, and so the easiest place to build a
tunnel is between Scotland and Northern Ireland (eg Stranrear-Larne).
even with trains running at TGV speed on both sides of the Irish Sea
this would be a long enough way round for many journeys, including
London-Dublin, for rail to remain uncompetitive with air.

Somewhere I also remember reading that the Irish Sea is much deeper
than the English Channel, which makes tunnelling more difficult than
the tunnel length would suggest, but I haven't been able to verify
that

Martin

"Martin Rich" wrote in message
...

Somewhere I also remember reading that the Irish Sea is much deeper
than the English Channel, which makes tunnelling more difficult than
the tunnel length would suggest, but I haven't been able to verify
that

From a wander around GOOGLE I find......

The Irish Sea is a semi enclosed shelf sea bordered by the island of
Ireland, Scotland England and Wales. The depth in the western Irish Sea is
characterised by a channel of greater than 80m depth that runs from St.
George's Channel in the south to a maximum depth of 275m in the North
Channel.

also...

The English Channel has a maximum depth of 100 m at the western mouth (5deg
W) shallowing to 40 m in the central Dover Strait


Which does confirm your memory.

KW

Ken Ward wrote:
"Martin Rich" wrote in message
...

Somewhere I also remember reading that the Irish Sea is much deeper
than the English Channel, which makes tunnelling more difficult than
the tunnel length would suggest, but I haven't been able to verify
that

From a wander around GOOGLE I find......

The Irish Sea is a semi enclosed shelf sea bordered by the island of
Ireland, Scotland England and Wales. The depth in the western Irish
Sea is characterised by a channel of greater than 80m depth that runs
from St. George's Channel in the south to a maximum depth of 275m in
the North Channel.

also...

The English Channel has a maximum depth of 100 m at the western mouth
(5deg W) shallowing to 40 m in the central Dover Strait


Which does confirm your memory.

Does depth make a difference? It won't be cut and cover!

"Ken Ward" wrote in message
...

"Martin Rich" wrote in message
...

Somewhere I also remember reading that the Irish Sea is much deeper
than the English Channel, which makes tunnelling more difficult than
the tunnel length would suggest, but I haven't been able to verify
that

From a wander around GOOGLE I find......

The Irish Sea is a semi enclosed shelf sea bordered by the island of
Ireland, Scotland England and Wales. The depth in the western Irish Sea is
characterised by a channel of greater than 80m depth that runs from St.
George's Channel in the south to a maximum depth of 275m in the North
Channel.

also...

The English Channel has a maximum depth of 100 m at the western mouth
(5deg W) shallowing to 40 m in the central Dover Strait

Which does confirm your memory.

KW


Hurd Deep in the English Channel is 172 m its deepest.
Beaufort Dyke, in the North Channel is between 200 and 300 m deep.
From Wikipedia :-
"Projects for a rail tunnel between Ireland and Scotland have been
suggested at various times from the late nineteenth-century onwards. The
Dyke has always been an important problem for such proposals, in terms both
of practicality and cost."

Jim Hawkins

"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
...

Hurd Deep in the English Channel is 172 m its deepest.
Beaufort Dyke, in the North Channel is between 200 and 300 m deep.

And Beaufort Dyke was the repository for a non-trivial quantity of discarded
munitions. Might not be a good idea to disturb it.

--
Tim

Selective killfiling - because life's too short

http://tim-fenton.fotopic.net
http://timsworkspace.fotopic.net

New Heritage and Steam pics added ...

In message
"Tim Fenton" wrote:


"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
...

Hurd Deep in the English Channel is 172 m its deepest.
Beaufort Dyke, in the North Channel is between 200 and 300 m deep.

And Beaufort Dyke was the repository for a non-trivial quantity of
discarded munitions. Might not be a good idea to disturb it.


Isn't Hurd deep where Bomber Command aircraft dumped any bombs they hadn't
dropped on target?

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

"rail" wrote in message
...
In message
"Tim Fenton" wrote:


"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
...

Hurd Deep in the English Channel is 172 m its deepest.
Beaufort Dyke, in the North Channel is between 200 and 300 m deep.

And Beaufort Dyke was the repository for a non-trivial quantity of
discarded munitions. Might not be a good idea to disturb it.


Isn't Hurd deep where Bomber Command aircraft dumped any bombs they hadn't
dropped on target?

--
Graeme Wall


Yes, and where Glenn Miller lost his life when his plane was hit by one of
them.

Jim Hawkins

In message
"Jim Hawkins" wrote:


"rail" wrote in message
...
In message
"Tim Fenton" wrote:


"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
...

Hurd Deep in the English Channel is 172 m its deepest. Beaufort Dyke,
in the North Channel is between 200 and 300 m deep.

And Beaufort Dyke was the repository for a non-trivial quantity of
discarded munitions. Might not be a good idea to disturb it.


Isn't Hurd deep where Bomber Command aircraft dumped any bombs they
hadn't dropped on target?

-- Graeme Wall


Yes, and where Glenn Miller lost his life when his plane was hit by one of
them.


Alledgedly, another story is that it was a cover up because he died of a
heart attack while in bed with a prostitute.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html