The 12,400 mile superhighway from Britain to America

[darkangel218]

Britain could be linked with America by road as part of an ambitious project to create the world's longest superhighway spanning half the circumference of the globe.

Proposals have been put forward to build the mega route stretching about 12,400 miles from the western edge of Russia to the Bering Strait where the country nudges Alaska.

Linking into existing road networks in Europe and Asia, for the first time it would allow travellers a proper highway to drive all way from the UK to the United States.

[IMG][/IMG]

More at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3009708/Plans-proposed-ambitious-12-400-mile-road-Russia-link-Britain-U-S.html

[cali]

1. my first impression is that it seems like ridiculous expenditure

[darkangel218]

3. I think it will be helpful.

It will link not only UK but all Europe to the US by land. I think it's awesome!

[jberryhill]

2. Tragically, the inaugural car crashed...

...when they ran into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road.

[pinboy3niner]

4. DUzy!

[darkangel218]

5. LMAO!!

[underpants]

12. +

[NuclearDem]

19. Pahahaha

[sakabatou]

63. XD

[wyldwolf]

65. "Are we there yet?"

[cloudbase]

6. Time to buy stock in Stuckey's. n/t

[underpants]

11. LOL

[Sherman A1]

7. Interesting

and depending upon how much new construction would be involved to link current roadways that would be part of the overall length of this superhighway it could be worthwhile. Also worthwhile would be high speed rail doing the same thing or both in tandem with each other. Autos and trucks will most certainly move over to renewable energy use in the next few years and roads have always been necessary for civilization.

[darkangel218]

8. +1

[DetlefK]

20. The current roads in eastern Russia are ponds of mud.

There is no way this would work without massive, MASSIVE investment.

[Sherman A1]

29. Okay, then

however good roads are generally a good thing. If it would take massive investment so be it. Perhaps we could all spend a little less on each countries Military and put people to work building roads and such.

[HereSince1628]

9. Hardly new, Czar Nicky and Sun Myung Moon dreamed of this project...

and it gets proposed regularly...

If you've ever travelled in western Alaska and eastern Russia, you know the cost of a tunnel would be a fraction of the costs of the modern superhighway that would make it worth the effort...

[rickford66]

10. How many kilometers between rest stops?

[NYC_SKP]

13. It should, of course, be rail and not a vehicular highway.

What asshole thought this up?

[hunter]

58. Oh dear... rail, like "Snowpiercer?"

I guess we'll just have to wait until the earth is frozen over as the unintended consequence of a geo-engineering project...

[NYC_SKP]

68. California is presently living in a waterless hell caused by geo-engineering projects...

It was a perfect program when it was built, then all these new cities and farms popped up.

Oops. Drought. Shit, better build desal plants now. (sarcasm there)

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. Who needs a highway when you have one of these?

?w=450&h=370

[Brother Buzz]

39. Ah, the Hannibal Twin-8

[DetlefK]

15. Nice idea, but who's gonna pay for it?

Russia is a bit short on money right now. And if it's supposed to be a highway of Autobahn-quality (2-3 lanes on each side and suitable for top-speeds of more than 100mph) all the way long, that thing is gonna cost a trillion bucks.
- I doubt, drivers want to slouch along those 12000 miles at 60 mph.
- You will need maintenance-crews at least every 50 miles.
- If there's a deadly crash, there has to be a plan to get the victims to a hospital within the hour. Which means, they need ambulance-outposts every 50 miles or so.

And you can bet your sweet buttocks that the road will be built with a no-bid-contract by one of Putin's friends, just like Sochi.

[jberryhill]

66. YouTube Revenue From Dashcam Videos of Crashes!

[L0oniX]

16. Not only can Palin see Russia from her porch ...now she can drive there too.

[Atman]

17. I can drive to Sarah Palin's house from here!

[darkangel218]

25. lol!

[Arkansas Granny]

18. Woo hoo! Road trip!

[freshwest]

33. I'm betting there will a toll on every mile of it, though...

And I do wonder what happened to the famous rail route...

[karadax]

21. One way trip due to safety and emission specs

The U.S. has the most strict safety and emission specs for autos. I cannot see this highway working the way it's envisioned unless all cars adhere to the same standard on emissions and safety. The EU is working on it. For now it would be a one way trip: US to UK.

[darkangel218]

23. Considering the highway will be over international teritories, i doubt the US regulation will apply

And once in Alaska, you can just rent a car

[Atman]

30. Or a snow machine!

Or some sled dogs.

[GoneOffShore]

22. Come on! April 1st is still weeks away.

[darkangel218]

24. Why would you want it to be a joke?

I think it's awesome they're seriously considering this. Is not that far fetched. Is not like you have yo build bridges over the Atlantic ( or tunnels ) . The land already exists.
Its private development, and most likely these will be toll roads. But it's a good alternative to air transportation only.

[Fred Sanders]

28. Why folks consider this historically dreamed of trade route some kind of oddity is strange.

The drive would be a fantastic adventure.

[snooper2]

88. Until some asshole in Russia puts an AK to your window and steals your ride

LOL

[bobclark86]

60. Of course it's not serious.

Trillions of dollars through one of the most sparsely-populated places in the world. \

Oh, and no, the land doesn't exist. It's an icy swamp.

[darkangel218]

61. Its actually very serious. nt

[GoneOffShore]

78. The Trans-Siberian Railway already exists

Don't need a road.

[darkangel218]

80. We do need a road

[GoneOffShore]

86. Why? Just why?

[darkangel218]

87. Read the thred, see the many reasons why.

[snooper2]

89. maybe they can run it through the North Korean logging camps in Siberia

We could do tours!

Look, Russians and the NK using slave labor- how awesome!

[GoneOffShore]

90. None make any economic or environmental sense.

Improving the railway on the other hand would be a better idea.

Road transport, hopefully, is eventually going to go away.

[Takket]

26. that 12000 miles only gets you to Alaska.

Its probably another 3000 miles or so to get to Seattle in the lower 48.

I can't see any reason why someone would do this instead of flying. Seems pointless.

[darkangel218]

27. Thats what people probably thought when the first plane was built. nt

[underahedgerow]

44. Here's a thought; we could finally drive all the way from South Africa to South America!!!

Imagine that.....

A little ferry action thing here and there, yeeeee hah!

[underahedgerow]

45. Trucking and goods trade. Or one HELLA road trip for those who fear flying.

I think it's pretty cool.

[marmar]

31. Or take a 3,500 mile plane ride the other way.

[jberryhill]

32. Not while flicking your cigarette butts out the window

Try THAT in your plane!

[Bluenorthwest]

49. In CA, that's a mandatory court appearance, minimum $500 fine plus 8 hours of community

service. These are minimums. In Oregon, it is a Class B Misdemeanor and can get a person 6 months in jail. We have fires.

[darkangel218]

92. In Russia no one will care :)

[tularetom]

34. 8000 of the 12,000 miles are through thawing permafrost in Siberia

That road is going to sink into the muck before they even finish building it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

70. Because that's what happens to every road in Canada and Alaska. n/t

[tularetom]

72. Actually, no, not every road in Canada and Alaska is built on permafrost

Last edited Wed Mar 25, 2015, 05:37 PM - Edit history (1)

99% of the population of Canada and probably 90% of the roads are in the pink (no permafrost) area on this map.

But I did find another map showing the state of Siberian permafrost and It appears to show that maybe only a third of the road route is threatened by melting permafrost by 2050. The remaining 2/3 seems to be in the "relatively stable" area.



ETA: Of course there's this, which seems to suggest that there are dangers inherent in the melting of the Siberian permafrost that go way beyond damage to roads. It's scary.

http://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_permafrost.htm

[B Calm]

35. Republicans would build a fence on our end of the bridge.

[underahedgerow]

36. I'd like the franchise rights to the gas stations, hotels and eating places please!

Count me in!

[Nye Bevan]

37. Probably need a few Red Roof Inns and Motel 6s along the way. (nt)

[LynneSin]

43. probably a few guns stashed away somewhere too

Not sure I'd want to drive through Russia without some form of protection in my car and I'm technically anti-gun!

[KamaAina]

38. Works for me

I have a female FB friend in Manchester (think United, not New Hampshire ) who doesn't fly. This way I could finally get her over here!

[Arugula Latte]

40. Seems like an environmental disaster in the making.

[GummyBearz]

41. Catch up with us in California, and change that highway into a bullet train

Choo-choo!

[LynneSin]

42. I once dreamt we built a highway from California to Hawaii

and I was driving on that road.

Of course in my dream I had no concept of the fact that it's 3000 miles to Hawaii from California which means you'd have to have one giant size gas tank to make it that distance and of course several drivers so no one would fall asleep while driving.

That's the crazy thing about dreams.

[nomorenomore08]

84. I've had dreams of driving across the Western U.S. (or a good chunk of it) in just a few hours.

Which of course, in "dream time," felt more like minutes.

[Orrex]

46. Meanwhile our domestic roads and bridges are crumbling

[NightWatcher]

47. I'd rather go the other way around. I'll wait for the Trans-Atlantic bridge.

[darkangel218]

48. Trans - Atlantic tunnel will be built first

Before the bridge.

A transatlantic tunnel is a theoretical tunnel that would span the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe possibly for such purposes as mass transit. Some proposals envision technologically advanced trains reaching speeds of 500 to 8,000 kilometres per hour (310 to 4,970 mph).[1] Most conceptions of the tunnel envision it between the United States and the United Kingdom ‒ or more specifically between New York City and London. At least one conception of the tunnel envisions it between New York City and Lisbon

Advantages compared to air travel could be increased speed, and use of electricity instead of scarce oil based fuel, considering a future time long after peak oil.

The main barriers to constructing such a tunnel are cost with estimates of between $175 billion to $12 trillion as well as the limits of current materials science.[2] Existing major tunnels, such as the Channel Tunnel, Seikan Tunnel and the Gotthard Base Tunnel, despite using less expensive technology than any yet proposed for the transatlantic tunnel, struggle financially.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_tunnel

Bush wasted a lot of money on unnecessary wars. He could have rather built a trans Atlantic tunnel. No lives lost and a lot more help to humanity .


Fuck Bush. ( sorry.)

[KoKo]

67. No way would I drive on that thing. Especially in high winds.

Would be like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel to infinity... They have to rescue drivers who have panic attacks on that one. I can't imagine driving on what looks like "Road to Nowhere."

[LeftyMom]

50. This is stupid. The roads in Russia are famously impassable in spring due to mud.

And of course they'd be impassable in winter due to... winter. In Russia.

So you'd have a wildly out of the way route that would only be navigable by truck for half of the year, at best. It wouldn't be cheaper than shipping cargo, I doubt it would be significantly faster, and it would use far more fuel.

And that's even assuming you actually COULD build a safe highway through famously unnavigable spaces with some of the worst weather on earth, in a country with which we have rather testy relations whose economy is dominated by graft and organized crime.

[Capt. Obvious]

51. More importantly

this is how Red Dawn would actually happen.

[darkangel218]

52. Maybe its "stupid" to you.

The proposed HIGHWAY will be nothing like the dirt roads of old Russia.
Sorry you can't see what can ( and probably will ) be done.

[LeftyMom]

53. Look, if you want to post stupid links people will point out that they're stupid.

There's no need for you to take it personally. You didn't come up with the silly-assed idea.

[darkangel218]

54. How did i take it personally?

I said that maybe it was "stupid" to you. Not everyone here in this thread thinks this is a stupid idea.
And most definitely it was not a "stupid link".
Why are you so nasty over an innocent OP?

[darkangel218]

56. Ugh nevermind, im not in for your flamebait.

Look what your last post to me was :

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5372212

Take your drama elsewhere, not interested in your thread hijacking shit. Have a nice day.

[TBF]

82. I thought you might like to see the jury results -

I was one of the random "leave it alone" with no description because I don't see a concern w/the post. I am sharing this however because one of the jurors was incredibly rude and I think that's worth highlighting.

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

Mail Message
On Wed Mar 25, 2015, 04:49 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Ugh nevermind, im not in for your flamebait.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6413405

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Links to a post in a total flamebait thread that SHE - darkangel218 - started. LOL
Accusing others of drama is the epitome of irony, considering the history.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Mar 25, 2015, 05:00 PM, and the Jury voted 2-5 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Fuck you Troll.
#hidebecauseyourestupid
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I'm not seeing the CS violation.
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[jobycom]

55. Stupid idea! Idiotic! Hurry up and build it, anyway! I can't wait to drive it! Oh yeah, and

these types of projects that seem to make no sense often wind up with incredible benefits to economies and science.

[darkangel218]

57. +10000

[lumberjack_jeff]

62. They said I was daft to build a castle in the swamp! But I built it just the same...

[darkangel218]

64. Roads and houses ( castles ) do not require the same conditions.

( in case you didn't know )

[jobycom]

69. You gotta build at least four. Unless you'd rather sing!

[A HERETIC I AM]

71. Who are we getting the...umm...huge tracts of land from? n/t

[zappaman]

79. !!!

So I built a second one. And that one sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Son, the strongest castle in all of England.

[SidDithers]

59. What a spectacularly dumb idea...

Does anyone, other that Putin and his buddies that will make billions, think this is worth doing?

Sid

[greytdemocrat]

73. No.

[pintobean]

83. Siberian snow plow drivers.

[jberryhill]

85. .

[progressoid]

74. Just what we need. More roads.

[darkangel218]

75. Yea. More roads.

Less wars.

[HERVEPA]

76. Yeh, more roads. Just what the world needs. Just ludicrous.

[LittleBlue]

77. China is already considering linking Asia go Alaska via high-speed rail

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/09/china-may-build-an-undersea-train-to-america/

[TBF]

81. Probably better by high-speed train -

even driving across Texas takes days! But I do think it is a cool idea.

I can see all the red-baiters in this thread however are pretty scared of people actually getting to meet each other & find out that **surprise** we're all just people.

[NaturalHigh]

91. Cool.