It is one of the great dreams of modern engineering, but for the moment, it seems that it will have to wait. Uniting two continents through an underground connection has been one of the great historical aspirations for the field of engineering. But we are not talking about two random continents, but to unite Europe and America, or more specifically, the United Kingdom with the United States.
Yes, it may sound completely outdated but it is one of the most gigantic operations that human beings have ever undertaken in the world of engineering. In fact, It would be such an extremely colossal work that to this day it remains totally unfeasible.. And it may always be.
Why, many will ask. Well, the answer is clear: money and resources. And it is estimated that the construction of An underwater train that links both continents could cost around 18 billion dollars. But this is not the only obstacle to be solved, rather the technical complexity of said pharaonic work, together with the enormous amount of material resources that would be necessary, make it almost impossible to consider carrying it out today.
According to what was quoted by the British newspaper The Express, This project is called ‘Transatlantic Tunnel’, and it was for decades one of the great obsessions for engineers and economists, who tried to find the key to being able to carry it out, although so far, without success.
If we focus on the technical and specific aspects, it should be noted that it would be a 5,470 km long tunnel, and that it would have to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the United Kingdom to the United States. Just to make a comparison, the English Channel, considered a masterpiece of engineering due to the countless obstacles it had to overcome, It is 37.9 km long (23.5km under the sea). That is to say, we are talking about a work of dimensions never seen before, not even close.
Several alternatives: all of them very complicated
According to estimates by prestigious economists, as we have already mentioned, the Transatlantic Tunnel would have a cost of 18 billion dollars, while that of the Canal was 6.4 billion. And now comes the million-dollar question: How could a construction of these dimensions be viable?
Well, first of all, and as mentioned in the British media The Express, it would be necessary to lower the tunnel construction to a depth at which the pressure and geological conditions make it practically impossibleand therefore it would be necessary to apply the appropriate technology.
Some of the options include the possibility of it being a floating tunnel submerged about 49 meters deep and supported by cables. In this way, the pressure of the ocean floor could be avoided, although a sufficiently secure system of cables and anchors would be essential to ensure stability. On the contrary, other experts advocate a hybrid construction based on a structure on the seabed as a floating part.
Other viable projects: uniting Europe and Africa
Another of the big issues would be that of passenger transportation. For this matter, many experts are in favor of using high-speed trains, such as Vactrains, which can reach a speed of between 6,400 and 8,000 km/h, being able to cover a distance of more than 5,000 km (London – New York) in just 54 minutes.
They would be magnetic levitation formations that would travel in an almost empty environment, thus eliminating air resistance and allowing speeds of such magnitudes. Despite everything, the technical and economic difficulties make this project, for the moment, a utopia only suitable for dreamers.
However, there are projects to unite two continents, although over much smaller distances, as may be the case of Africa and Europe, for which there is already an established plan that would unite both continents through the Strait of Gibraltar. According to estimates, this construction It would cost 6 or 7 billion dollars and would connect Punta Paloma (Tarifa) with Malabata (Morocco), This being a distance of 27 km of water, of which 17 km would be submerged.
