Transport & Infrastructure News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Tunnels linking Channel Islands to France are discussed

16 hours ago

Undersea tunnels linking the Channel Islands to France have been discussed at two roadshows this week.

Deputy Kirsten Morel welcomed the events detailing the plans, saying "the conversation has started and that's the most important thing".

There was a mixed reaction at the Jersey roadshow on Tuesday, with some people excited and others concerned.

A rail tunnel between Guernsey and France via Jersey would take up to 10 years to build, said campaigners.

Deputy Morel, the minister for sustainable economic development, said a tunnel to France could address housing crises, labour shortages and the intermittent supply of food.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-68489413

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World's largest tidal range project set to bridge Liverpool's Mersey river
By Paul Ridden


March 12, 2024

https://newatlas.com/energy/mersey-tida ... s-largest/
A plan to build a barrier across the Mersey is starting to take shape. If it goes ahead, the ambitious project would becomes the largest tidal range facility in the world, while also offering pedestrians and cyclists safe passage across the river.

Plans appear to have been floating around for a while now. Authorities in Liverpool note that first mentions date back as far as 1924, followed by reports and viability studies in the 1980s. Politician John McDonnell recently recalled that he attended his first meeting on a Mersey barrage proposal back in 2015, but things seem to be moving forward at last.

"For as long as I can remember, there has been talk of building a tidal barrage on the Mersey," said Liverpool City Region's mayor, Steve Rotheram, in 2022 as he inked a collaboration deal with South Korean state water company K-Water. "Thanks to devolution – we’re working to make it a reality. There are still huge technical and financial challenges to overcome but Mersey Tidal Power has the potential to provide enough clean, green, predictable energy to power up to one million homes for over a century."

[caltrek]

Voters Want More Transit Options
by Liam Crisan
March 6, 2024

Introduction:

(Other Words) Not long ago, a user-made map depicting a vastly expanded Atlanta transit system went viral on social media.

Instead of just four branching main lines that intersect like a plus sign, the imaginary map spindles out like a bicycle wheel in 10 directions, with an additional ring around the periphery connecting the spokes.

Comments like “They should’ve done this 25 years ago” and “let’s get this idea in the hands of the politicians ASAP” flooded in. Similar maps imagining expanded transit service have harvested “likes” and enthusiastic comments over the past several years, including several national high-speed rail maps.

“People are starting to dream and have these big ideas of what [transit] should look like,” said Bakari Height, an organizer with the Labor Network for Sustainability. “People are waking up and seeing that this is something that’s really valuable, something that they want to utilize.”

Of course, these ambitious plans will cost money. But polls say voters think the investment is worthwhile.

Read more here: https://otherwords.org/voters-want-mor ... -listen/

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In Japan New Bullet Train Service to Fukui Opens Up Often Overlooked Region
by Tsunetaka Sato, Yoshito Asakura and Kazuhide Setoguchi
March 16, 2024

Introduction:

(Asahi Shimbun) An extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line connecting Kanazawa and Tsuruga in central Japan opened March 16, bringing bullet train services to Fukui Prefecture for the first time and the prospect of a desperately needed surge in tourism.

The development means Fukui is now connected by a high-speed link to Tokyo, some 300 kilometers away.

March 16 marked the first day for a travel discount program to support the Hokuriku region still reeling from the New Year’s Day magnitude-7.6 earthquake that left hundreds homeless.

A ceremony was held at Tsuruga Station to see off the first Shinkansen run bound for Tokyo early on March 16.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15201001

[weatheriscool]

World's largest aircraft delivers colossal cargo to makeshift airstrips
By Loz Blain
March 17, 2024

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/worlds-la ... indrunner/
The 108-m (356-ft) long Radia Windrunner is designed to transport cargo too big for the road, to short, semi-prepared airstrips on rough terrain. It would dwarf the majestic 84-m (275-ft) long Antonov An-225 Mriya, which is sadly no longer with us.

With the notable exception of the Large Hadron Collider, there's really no machine in history with single parts larger than today's mammoth wind turbines. Some offshore turbines, for example, are being built with blades more than 140 m (459 ft) long. One of the reasons why they're not getting to this scale on dry land is that it's damn near impossible to move blades this size on the road.

Corners are too tight. Bridges are too low. Even blades half that size are a logistical nightmare – and sometimes the process is pretty terrifying to watch, as you can see in the video below. Wouldn't want a big gust that day!

[weatheriscool]

Autonomous vortex-surfing cargo gliders promise 65% cheaper air freight
By Loz Blain
March 18, 2024

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/towed-cargo-gliders/

A West Texas company says it's found a remarkably simple way to slash air cargo costs as much as 65% – by having planes tow autonomous, cargo-carrying gliders behind them, big enough to double, or potentially triple their payload capacity.

The idea certainly isn't a new one – payload-carrying gliders were towed toward combat zones in World War 2, full of troops and/or equipment, then released to attempt unpowered landings in the thick of things – with widely variable results, particularly where stone-walled farms were a factor.

More recently, the US Air Mobility Command tried flying one C-17 Globemaster III some 3-6,000 ft (900-1800m) back from another, "surfing" the vortices left in the lead plane's wake – much like ducks flying in formation – and found there were double-digit fuel savings to be gained.

But Texas startup Aerolane says the savings will be much more substantial with purpose-built autonomous cargo gliders connected to the lead plane with a simple tow rope. With no propulsion systems, you save all the weight of engines, motors, fuel or batteries. There'll be no cabin for a pilot, just space for cargo and the autonomous flight control systems that'll run them.

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JetZero's ultra-efficient blended wing demonstrator cleared for takeoff
By Michael Irving
March 27, 2024

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/jetzero-b ... orthiness/
The basic shape of a passenger jet hasn’t really changed much for decades, but radical new shapes are inching closer to production. JetZero has announced that its beautiful blended-wing demonstrator has been FAA-approved to begin test flights.

A blended wing plane is exactly what it sounds like – the fuselage and the wings blend together into a sleek shape that’s a cross between a regular airliner and a flying wing. The more aerodynamic design, in which basically everything is a lift surface, drastically boosts its fuel efficiency, with JetZero claiming its blended wing would use 50% less than a standard jet.

That extra fuel efficiency would be huge. It'd cut running costs substantially, and it could open up longer-range transcontinental hops. The benefits could be even more valuable if this concept was combined with clean aviation powertrains like battery-electric, hydrogen or ammonia-fuelled concepts, where range is still a key impediment to widespread adoption.

Oh, and as a bonus, the blended wing design gives you much more room for cargo and passengers, which is a win for anyone who’s ever staggered stiff-legged off a long-haul flight. Or, more likely, it's a win for airline operators, who will be able to squeeze more malodorous armrest-hoggers and screaming babies into the plane with you.

Last year, JetZero announced that it was working with the US Air Force, NASA and the FAA to get its blended wing airliner into service by 2030, and in August it followed that up with the news of an Air Force contract to build a prototype by 2027.
JetZero's engineers stand alongside the 12.5% scale demonstrator

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[weatheriscool]

$300,000 robotic micro-factories pump out custom-designed homes
By Mike Hanlon
April 20, 2024
https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/sudd ... t-300-000/

Construction is the world’s largest industry, employing seven percent of the planet's working-age adults, contributing 13 percent of the world’s GDP and completing floor space equivalent to the city of Paris every seven days.

The construction industry is also the most inefficient, least digitised and most polluting industry (37% of ALL emissions), so change is imperative from macro economic necessity alone. For the builders of the world faced with a jigsaw puzzle of partial digital solutions and chronic labor and supply chain issues, the margins are growing ever-thinner and the necessity is to change or perish.

British company Automated Architecture (AUAR) has a thoroughly ingenious solution and it has enlisted an all-star cast of financial backers in short order: Morgan Stanley, ABB Robotics, Rival Holdings (USA), Vandenbussche NV (Belgium) with VCs such as Miles Ahead and Bacchus Venture Capital (Jim Horowitz et al) helping to get the initial idea off the ground.

[weatheriscool]

From Sin City to the City of Angels, building starts on high-speed rail line

Source: ABC News/AP

April 22, 2024, 12:17 AM

LAS VEGAS -- Work is set to begin Monday on a $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, with officials projecting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.

Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track between a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Almost the full distance is to be built in the median of Interstate 15, with a station stop in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.

In a statement, Brightline Holdings founder and Chairperson Wes Edens called the moment “the foundation for a new industry.”

Brightline aims to link other U.S. cities that are too near to each other for flying between them to make sense and too far for people to drive the distance, Edens said. CEO Mike Reininger has said the goal is to have trains operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wi ... -109484497