Earliest Possible Bering Strait Bridge?

Die Kaiserin

When is the earliest point a bridge could be built for railways from Siberia to Alaska? Its such a monumental project, but I know Atlantropa was proposed in the 1910s, so it cant be incredibly off.
 

trurle

Banned
djPROUDGEEK said:
Interesting article from The Atlantic going back a couple of years ago on the subject.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...rhighway-bering-strait-new-york-paris/397370/
Click to expand...
The news above use the background of technical project for just the hate speech. So disgraceful..

Seriosly speaking, the technical possibility for land bridge or tunnel is here. But economic climate is wrong. With sea transport being the cheapest way to haul cargo long distance, any strategic rail links bypassing the sea routes are meaningless. What we need for bridge Asia-Alaska to be built is the oceans filled with hostile, avaricious aliens. May be in 22nd century when sea colonization will gain momentum and international sea trade will crunch under the weight of tariffs?
 

Riain

I saw a doco on it once, even today it would only be open 4 months of the year and would mainly be an oil/gas pipeline.
 
Shadow Master

Shadow Master

Banned
Only thing I could see is for the ALSIB LL route, during WWII, would have to make use of THIS! It would require a huge investment, and none bigger than WWII to date, so if it was going to be built at all, that is when it would have to have been funded.
 
Shadow Master

Shadow Master

Banned
trurle said:
Read
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R504_Kolyma_Highway
to get the proper feeling of construction difficulty in the region. I think in 1901 or WWII the project was plainly impossible due logistical strain.
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That's a good read, and from the soviet side, it does look impossible.

OTOH, from the US side, the picture is very different. HERE! IIRC, the Alcan Highway was built entirely within WWII, starting sometime in early 1942, and actually opening up somethime in early 1943. So in pre-war SU, over 20 years and still not a connection to alaska, while in the US, just about one year to bridge the road/rail gap between lower 48 and Alaska.

This makes me wonder what a complete roadway/railway would have looked like, and how long would it take to build the 'ice road' portions?
 

trurle

Banned
Shadow Master said:
That's a good read, and from the soviet side, it does look impossible.

OTOH, from the US side, the picture is very different. HERE! IIRC, the Alcan Highway was built entirely within WWII, starting sometime in early 1942, and actually opening up somethime in early 1943. So in pre-war SU, over 20 years and still not a connection to alaska, while in the US, just about one year to bridge the road/rail gap between lower 48 and Alaska.

This makes me wonder what a complete roadway/railway would have looked like, and how long would it take to build the 'ice road' portions?
Click to expand...

With full commitment of both Soviets and Americans, the project of Bering crossing would still take about 15 years (starting in say 1942). Do not forget, Alcan Highway was actually the easiest part, benefiting from existing railheads. Even so, Americans took a year to construct only temporary road. It would take 2-3 years more to upgrade it to dual-track rail standards (~30 thousands tons of gravel per km), and the real trouble would be just starting. In particular, last 300km through Seward Peninsula on American side looks like a nightmare of bridge-builder. Thousands of streams to cross.
 
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