Great video on what will be the largest construction project ever done in Europe.

[serene911]

[Bugsinrugs]

Unbelievable! Mankind is truly amazing. And how long will that Gina gasket last? How will they replace it considering it’s buried? Stupid questions but I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[GH85Carrera]

Pretty amazing. I just wonder what the ticket will cost to ride the train, and pay the toll for the tunnel. The upkeep and maintenance will be expensive and the cost of the tunnel will take some time to pay for itself.

How long do the think it will last? 100 years, 200 years?

[speeder]

Those are good questions, the chunnel between London and Paris is now 28 years old and doing fine with something like a dozen trains a day using it. I don’t have time to watch the video now but will later for sure, the engineering challenges of something like this boggle my mind.

[Norm K]

Seven-and-a-half-billion US dollars?

Given that SoFi stadium cost over $5B to build, it's not unreasonable to expect that we would struggle to build just the construction site for that amount is this country.

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[2.7RS]

Originally Posted by Norm K

Seven-and-a-half-billion US dollars?

Given that SoFi stadium cost over $5B to build, it's not unreasonable to expect that we would struggle to build just the construction site for that amount is this country.

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Unions
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[Superman]

Civil engineering is not considered as glamorous as electrical or mechanical engineering, but I think civil engineers have more fun than those other guys. I am not an engineer but I have participated in a number of large civil construction projects. I have, many times, just fascinated and marveled over how these projects are designed and executed. Just to name a few: Bertha was a nearly 60-foot diameter TBM. The CRCF at Sea-Tac is a five story concrete structure that covers the area of nine football fields. 16 million CY of material had to be imported and placed in order to build the Third Runway. That is 850,000 truck loads. We wore out a highway and replaced it as part of the project.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Pretty amazing. I just wonder what the ticket will cost to ride the train, and pay the toll for the tunnel. The upkeep and maintenance will be expensive and the cost of the tunnel will take some time to pay for itself.

How long do the think it will last? 100 years, 200 years?

Some A-holes will blow it up (or everything else) before that.

[deanp]

The Big Dig in Boston was originally forecast to cost $2.48 billion, then adjusted to $7.48 billion in 1992, $10.4 billion in 1994 and the final cost ended up at $14.8 billion when finally "completed" in 2007.

https://appel.nasa.gov/2010/07/15/the-big-dig-learning-from-a-mega-project/

[unclebilly]

Why is it called a ‘Gina gasket?

Oh - got my answer…
https://www.trelleborg.com/engineered-products/~/media/engineered-products/solutions-and-products/tunnel-seals/gina/gina-gasket.pdf

[ckissick]

As a geotechnical engineer/geologist, I've worked on dam projects and large water treatment plants, but tunnels are the most fun.

[Superman]

Big Dig was a thoroughly botched project in every way.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Pretty amazing. I just wonder what the ticket will cost to ride the train, and pay the toll for the tunnel. The upkeep and maintenance will be expensive and the cost of the tunnel will take some time to pay for itself.

How long do the think it will last? 100 years, 200 years?

I watched the video a few days ago and I think they said the toll for a car would be 100 euros. They mentioned it briefly in passing, without explanation. That seems way too high and negates its usefulness as a commuter option.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by ckissick

I watched the video a few days ago and I think they said the toll for a car would be 100 euros. They mentioned it briefly in passing, without explanation. That seems way too high and negates its usefulness as a commuter option.

Wow, Right now the Euro is pretty close to the US dollar. 100 bucks each way is a lot of money. A grand per week to commute on that thing. Yea, commuting will not be a common thing.

it would be cool to go see when done.

As I understand it, the Chunnel from England to France is only train traffic, so a driver loads the car onto the train, and the train makes the trip. From what I found that is 104 Euro each way for the bargain rate. and it is 269 euro each way if you get the show up anytime and go plan. OUCH!

It costs me 5 bucks to use the turnpike that is almost right from my house to the airport where I keep our airplane. 12 minutes and I am there. If I stay off the turnpike it takes 30 minutes, and lot of stops. I guess roads are cheaper than deep tunnels under the ocean.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by ckissick

I watched the video a few days ago and I think they said the toll for a car would be 100 euros. They mentioned it briefly in passing, without explanation. That seems way too high and negates its usefulness as a commuter option.

Compared to the current option of driving all the way around, it’s still cheaper. Remember that petrol is expensive in Europe. Despite the fact that it’s only 20 kms, it’s still better than driving hundred of miles to go around.

I’m sure there will be a ferry service still and it will likely be cheaper but not as convenient.