Transatlantic tunnel
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The
Transatlantic Tunnel is a structure proposed by one of the
engineers involved in the construction of the
Channel Tunnel beneath the
English Channel. It would be a
tunnel that spans the
Atlantic Ocean between
New York City and
England; the design calls for this tunnel to be raised above the
ocean floor (making it a
tube—not a tunnel); this is unlike most tunnels (which are dug out from beneath the floor of a water body), but like the
Bay Area Rapid Transit system's
Transbay Tube in
San Francisco. The tunnel would be a 3,100 mile (5,000 km) long
vacuum tube with
mag-lev trains that could travel at speeds up to 5,000 mph (≈8,000 km/h); at this speed, the travel time between
New York and
London would be less than one
hour. At top speed, the
train would travel faster than a
bullet fired from a
gun. The train would be able to reach such a high
speed as a result of the lack of
friction and
air resistance in this vacuum-sealed
environment.
An alternative route that was proposed involved the train going from
Newfoundland and heading north over the tundra of
Greenland and across
Iceland until it reached
Scotland. This route is the cheapest but it is considered to be one of the most difficult due to the adverse weather conditions and rough terrain in Greenland, and such a tunnel would lose the vast speed of the mag-lev tube. It is estimated that once started, the project would take about 100+ years to complete.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_tunnel
