Bojo's Bridge over Troubled Water

Bojo's Bridge over Troubled Water

Boris Johnson, Britain Foreign Secretary, reportedly wants to build a bridge, "a submarine highway" across the English Channel between UK and France.

The idea was floated during the Anglo-French summit at Sandhurst, with President Macron and Prime Minister Theresa May on 18 January 2018.

It echoes previous reports by Journalist Tim Shipman of Boris Johnson's earlier call for a similar structure. 

Boris is not new to innovative ideas which he thinks as solutions to existing problems. As Mayor of London in March 2016, he refloated the idea of an island airport and planned to create a hub in the Thames Estuary, as an alternative to a third runway at Heathrow.It was not considered a viable solution by the Airports Commission.

Constructing a third runway at Heathrow was estimated to cost £18.6 billion. It has since escalated.

In the light of his new idea of a Bridge to France,everyone knows both countries are currently

 linked across by a single railway tunnel -the Channel Tunnel. 

 It is 50.45 km (30.35 m) linking Folkstone,Kent,U.K. with Coquelles,Pas de Calais, near Calais,,northern France. It runs beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover and opened on 6 May 1994. It takes 35 minutes for the crossover with up to 4 shuttles per hour.It took more than 5 years to complete with more than 13,000 workers from England and France collaborating to realise the vision.

On June 23,2016 the British people resolved to leave the European Union and take back control of its laws, borders and money. It was a political watershed.

In March 2017 Britain began the process for the UK's formal withdrawal from the EU by triggering Article 50. 

The European Union (Withdrawal Bill) 2017-19 was passed in the House of Commons and sent to the Lords where it had it First reading on 18 January 2018,with the Second reading taking place on 30/31 January 2018.

Boris Johnson's Bridge to France is envisaged as a huge  concrete construction in the middle of the world's busiest shipping lanes, might well come with some challenges.  President Macron of France was on board with Johnson's idea,the Telegraph reported saying:

 "I agree,Let's do it."

Was it diplomacy or not is the question?

It isn't the first time or will we expect it to be the last time Boris has floated a symbolic infrastructure project that has met ridicule. It has triggered much thought and criticism. Downing Street has lacked much enthusiasm for the proposed project of a 22 mile long bridge,pouring cold water on the plans shortly after the suggestion. The loose proposal was also dismissed by the European Commission.

In 1802,a French mining Engineer,Albert Mathieu put forward an idea plan to "tunnel under the channel" with illumination from oil lamps,horse drawn coaches and an artificial island mid-channel for changing horses.

According to Wanda Lewis ,Professor of Structural Engineering,University of Warwick,UK,:

"A bridge over the English Channel that wouldn't disrupt shipping would require a span of 22 miles or 38 km in total,which is an order of magnitude larger than anything else built to date. It presents a considerable civil engineering challenge............... The Channel is between 40 m .and 60 deep and some passenger ships are more than 70m.tall.So to let ships pass underneath,the pylons supporting the bridge would have to be around 150m, tall. To support the cables,you would have to add pylons above the deck which would mean a total pylon height overall above 500 m. Again nothing this tall has ever been built."

What would this proposed bridge look like?

I leave it to your conceptual visualisation?

Victor Cherubim