32 replies to this topic

[Logically Irrational]

Here we go, first post!

http://www.didik.com/highway/

This idea has been around for a while now. From what I can tell most of the bridges and tunnels are proposed or at least might happen. What does everyone think. Is this just an unrealistic pipe dream, or will it eventually happen? If so, when?

Here's a totally professional looking map of the proposed route:

[Time_Traveller]

I think it's great and can be feasible to do those tunnels and i think they could be done by the mid-late 21st.Century.

[wjfox]

Interesting, but I doubt it would last centuries. I think it would become obsolete as certain technologies began to emerge - full immersion VR, 3D printers and matter replication, mind uploading and teleportation, etc. which would negate the need to physically travel. Also, space ports / space planes which could be faster than any road or tunnel-based vehicle.

[Logically Irrational]

Well, it definitely won't happen until 2045, according to Russia:

http://singularityhu...-bering-strait/

[ExplorerAtHeart]

Russia has been talking about building the Bering straight rail bridge. I don't see demand for road traffic up there but for freight and fuels there is alot.

Also, high speed maglev of vacuum tube transport systems could trace a route like this.

[Zachemc2]

This is awesome. Do you realize how much cheaper transportation costs would be?

[ExplorerAtHeart]

Yes, in relation to the Bering straight crossing, it es estimated to cost the govenments 65 billion dollers but have economic payoff of 7 billion a year. It could pay itself off in a decade.

[GNR Rvolution]

As mentioned by others I think this would only work if was for rail freight, very few people are going to want to drive that far (well, unless cars are automated) and you would need very fast vehicles indeed to outrun airborne travel.

[Zachemc2]

Anyone have an estimate on when this will be completed? I say 2040s if it ever happens.

[Dead Redshirt]

lol I think it's a definite pipedream. I can't see it happening. Heck, the roads are so bad where I am, I can't see them contributing to a large-scale project like that. Our roads have been voted as some of the worst roads time and time again.

[Logically Irrational]

lol I think it's a definite pipedream. I can't see it happening. Heck, the roads are so bad where I am, I can't see them contributing to a large-scale project like that. Our roads have been voted as some of the worst roads time and time again.

I know what you mean, but that doesn't mean it won't ever happen. If the major bridges and tunnels are completed, you would at least be able to drive or ride a train everywhere (besides Australia). That's another thing, it wouldn't be transglobal highway exactly, it would just be a global ground-based transport system, made up of a combination of road and rail.

[Dead Redshirt]

True, but even then, my provincial government has been talking about expanding one of the major highways for ages now to 4 lanes and it can't even get that done. The progress is almost at a standstill, so that's why I say I don't think it will happen. It's not that it isn't possible, at least technically, but that the workforce can't undertake it if it can't do the simple job of expanding a highway. And I assume this kind of thing would be done by territory/state/province, a bit like how the Appalachian Trail is independently kept up by each state and province.

lol I think it's a definite pipedream. I can't see it happening. Heck, the roads are so bad where I am, I can't see them contributing to a large-scale project like that. Our roads have been voted as some of the worst roads time and time again.

I know what you mean, but that doesn't mean it won't ever happen. If the major bridges and tunnels are completed, you would at least be able to drive or ride a train everywhere (besides Australia). That's another thing, it wouldn't be transglobal highway exactly, it would just be a global ground-based transport system, made up of a combination of road and rail.

[Logically Irrational]

^^ Yes, I think that's how it would be kept up, by individual state or country. I suppose that the favored route might emerge from the best cared for portions. I get that a lot of areas don't take good care of their road system, but it's not true for all. Here in Los Angeles, there's been major freeway construction going on, and the crews have finished huge stretches in just a few months. Like you said, other states may have issues with hosting the highway, but there are many other areas that are capable. Again, this doesn't guarantee anything, but I don't think bureaucracy or money are insurmountable obstacles.

[Dead Redshirt]

You're probably right. I only wish they could get our roads done. It always seems, at least locally, that they're always doing construction on the same streets year after year. I guess you could say though, that the snow really does affect the pavement.

One other option would be to have an international company formed that would take care of the building of it and the maintenance, but then, I don't know if that'd be very popular with the public. I'd almost prefer it similar to the way rail lines were set up, ie private companies owning stretches of routes and then having other companies paying a fee whenever they use the rail. Speaking of train travel, I really do wish it'd come back. At least in my area, train travel is nearly non-existent anymore, which is sad when you consider it used to be one of the big centers of train traffic in the early days. We only really get one train a week anymore.

[Logically Irrational]

I hear you. The only passenger trains I ever see around here are on the single Amtrak line, and not very many people use that for regular commuting. At least increasing rail networks is a definite goal the government has set up. We'll just see how well it plays out. I'm just glad that some of the major tunnels for the transglobal highway, such as Gibralter and Japan-Korea, have to be rail. The whole thing wouldn't work as well in my opinion if it was all just roads.

As for the maintenance, quality control certainly doesn't hold true throughout a state. There's the construction I mentioned, and then there's the stretch of highway on the way to San Diego that I swear has been worked on for three years straight. I think it just depends on where resources get shifted.

[Dead Redshirt]

Yeah, the quality of work really does vary depending on the areas. On the other hand, the tax payers keep paying for them working on the same stretches of road! We're literally known for our potholes lol.

[Logically Irrational]

On the other hand, the tax payers keep paying for them working on the same stretches of road! We're literally known for our potholes lol.

Anyway, here's where the rest of the main bridges and tunnels are at:

Strait of Gibralter Tunnel
http://icivil-engine...-strait-of.html
http://www.guardian....pain.travelnews

Sunda Strait Bridge
http://www.thejakart...ait-bridge.html
http://www.thejakart...-reality/324162

Sakhalin-Hokkaidō Long and Short Tunnels
http://en.wikipedia....te-sptimes.ru-0

Japan-Korea Tunnel
http://english.yonha...010300315F.HTML

Strait of Malacca
http://www.nst.com.m...s/23ops/Article
http://straitofmalaccacrossing.com/

Darién Gap
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Darién_Gap

Right now, demand might not be high enough for a few of the connections, but I imagine things will change as a result of increased immigration, population, and commerce. Things will be very different by the 2040s.

[Logically Irrational]

Any information on this people are aware of?

http://en.wikipedia....Highway_Network

[eacao]

and Australia gets left out... I love the idea of a transcontinental maglev train system.

[Time_Traveller]

and Australia gets left out... I love the idea of a transcontinental maglev train system.

Well if they ever change the Asian/Indonesian Tunnel they could extend it around Australia and re-connect it to the same tunnel to go back to China.