Strait of Gibraltar crossing: Tarifa and Tangier could be linked with an underwater tunnel or bridge by 2030. Why Aren't Africa and Europe connected by a bridge? Gibraltar megaprojects, https://youtu.be/4obQiU18ZWo. Since the 19th century, ideas have been debated to unite Spain and Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar. The two most studied options in all these years we tell you today.
Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.
The Strait of Gibraltar crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the Strait of Gibraltar (about 14 km or 9 miles at its narrowest point) that would connect Europe and Africa. The governments of Spain and Morocco appointed a joint committee to investigate the feasibility of linking the two continents in 1979, which resulted in the much broader Euromed Transport project.
In January 2021, it was reported that the United Kingdom and Morocco would discuss building the crossing between Gibraltar and Tangiers.
Several engineers have designed bridges on various alignments and with different structural configurations. A proposal by Professor T.Y. Lin for a crossing between Point Oliveros and Point Cires featured deep piers, a length of 14 kilometers (9 miles), 910-meter-tall (3,000 ft) towers, and a 5,000-metre (16,000-foot) span, more than twice the length of the current longest bridge span. A 2004 proposal by architect Eugene Tsui was for a floating and submerged bridge connected at a three-mile wide island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Various tunnels have been proposed. Spain first proposed a modern tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar in 1930. A major problem arose when the engineers hired by the Spanish government discovered that the material under the Strait was extremely hard rock, making tunnelling impossible with the available technology. One engineering solution was to fix, using cables, a prefabricated concrete tunnel to the floor of the Strait. This tunnel would handle automotive and train traffic.
A 2008 geological study cast doubt on the tunnel's feasibility. In March 2009, a contract was issued for a joint system linking the Moroccan Société Nationale d'Etudes du Détroit de Gibraltar (SNED) with its Spanish counterpart, Sociedad española de estudios para la comunicación fija a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar SA (Secegsa). A three-year study for a railway tunnel was announced in 2003. SNED and Secegsa commissioned several seabed surveys.
The Strait depth extends to 900 meters (3,000 ft) on the shortest route, although it is only about 300 meters deep slightly further west, in a region known as the Camarinal Sill; the European and African tectonic plates meet around this area. The shortest crossing is 14 kilometers (8.7 mi). The proposed route of 23 kilometers (14 mi) is west of Tarifa and to the east of Tangier. The tunnel is likely to be about 34 kilometers (21 miles) in all. It is proposed that a connection would have to be made to the Spanish high-speed railway network, which has a line projected to be built from Cádiz to Málaga via Algeciras.
A report on the feasibility of the tunnel was presented to the EU in 2009. A further project study is under development by a group of specialist consultants from SYSTRA, Amberg, and COWI.
Spain (Tarifa) and Morocco (Tangier) could be linked with an underwater tunnel. Now a ferry service works. Within the General State Budget for 2023, an item of €750,000 has been created that will go to Secegsa. The Spanish Society of Studies for Fixed Communication through the Strait of Gibraltar is the only organization that benefits from this amount. Leaders of the organization assure that the project could be a reality between 2030 and 2040; and that they will speak with a German company to carry out a feasibility study. This study will focus on the possibility of building an underwater tunnel between Tarifa and Tangier, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.
The tunnel would be 38.7 km long and 27.8 km would be undersea. This underwater tunnel would carry a railway line with shuttle trains for trucks and vehicles and trains for freight and passengers. It would also include an optical fiber, power lines to provide light for the tunnel, and a gas pipeline through which green hydrogen would pass between Europe and Africa.
San Jose Costa Rica, Monday, November 28, 2022, rafaelvilagut@gmail.com.
The Strait of Gibraltar crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the Strait of Gibraltar (about 14 km or 9 miles at its narrowest point) that would connect Europe and Africa. The governments of Spain and Morocco appointed a joint committee to investigate the feasibility of linking the two continents in 1979, which resulted in the much broader Euromed Transport project.
In January 2021, it was reported that the United Kingdom and Morocco would discuss building the crossing between Gibraltar and Tangiers.
Several engineers have designed bridges on various alignments and with different structural configurations. A proposal by Professor T.Y. Lin for a crossing between Point Oliveros and Point Cires featured deep piers, a length of 14 kilometers (9 miles), 910-meter-tall (3,000 ft) towers, and a 5,000-metre (16,000-foot) span, more than twice the length of the current longest bridge span. A 2004 proposal by architect Eugene Tsui was for a floating and submerged bridge connected at a three-mile wide island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Various tunnels have been proposed. Spain first proposed a modern tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar in 1930. A major problem arose when the engineers hired by the Spanish government discovered that the material under the Strait was extremely hard rock, making tunnelling impossible with the available technology. One engineering solution was to fix, using cables, a prefabricated concrete tunnel to the floor of the Strait. This tunnel would handle automotive and train traffic.
A 2008 geological study cast doubt on the tunnel's feasibility. In March 2009, a contract was issued for a joint system linking the Moroccan Société Nationale d'Etudes du Détroit de Gibraltar (SNED) with its Spanish counterpart, Sociedad española de estudios para la comunicación fija a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar SA (Secegsa). A three-year study for a railway tunnel was announced in 2003. SNED and Secegsa commissioned several seabed surveys.
The Strait depth extends to 900 meters (3,000 ft) on the shortest route, although it is only about 300 meters deep slightly further west, in a region known as the Camarinal Sill; the European and African tectonic plates meet around this area. The shortest crossing is 14 kilometers (8.7 mi). The proposed route of 23 kilometers (14 mi) is west of Tarifa and to the east of Tangier. The tunnel is likely to be about 34 kilometers (21 miles) in all. It is proposed that a connection would have to be made to the Spanish high-speed railway network, which has a line projected to be built from Cádiz to Málaga via Algeciras.
A report on the feasibility of the tunnel was presented to the EU in 2009. A further project study is under development by a group of specialist consultants from SYSTRA, Amberg, and COWI.
Spain (Tarifa) and Morocco (Tangier) could be linked with an underwater tunnel. Now a ferry service works. Within the General State Budget for 2023, an item of €750,000 has been created that will go to Secegsa. The Spanish Society of Studies for Fixed Communication through the Strait of Gibraltar is the only organization that benefits from this amount. Leaders of the organization assure that the project could be a reality between 2030 and 2040; and that they will speak with a German company to carry out a feasibility study. This study will focus on the possibility of building an underwater tunnel between Tarifa and Tangier, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.
The tunnel would be 38.7 km long and 27.8 km would be undersea. This underwater tunnel would carry a railway line with shuttle trains for trucks and vehicles and trains for freight and passengers. It would also include an optical fiber, power lines to provide light for the tunnel, and a gas pipeline through which green hydrogen would pass between Europe and Africa.
San Jose Costa Rica, Monday, November 28, 2022, rafaelvilagut@gmail.com.
The Real Björn Ironside // Vikings in Spain & the Mediterranean, illustrate the importance of Gibraltar from ancient times, https://youtu.be/UgKQJ3WGJBk.
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