A Gibraltar bridge or tunnel - which is the best way to connect Europe and Africa?Gibraltar Bridge Several engineers have been asked to come up with an ingenious design for a bridge or tunnel across the Strait of Gibraltar joining the continents of Europe and Africa. These projects are being looked into by the Spanish and Moroccan governments with some assistance from the EU.
Although the following designs have Gibraltar in their name, it would not be realistic for a Gibraltar bridge or Gibraltar tunnel to begin or finish in Gibraltar as the area is too small to cope with the influx of traffic, lacking the road and railway network structure to service such a major design.
In 1996 Prof. T Y Lin, of San Francisco, California, designed a hybrid stayed-suspension bridge, after numerous Gibraltar bridge alternatives had been exhausted, including classic suspension bridges and cable-stiffened suspension bridges. The hybrid stayed-suspension bridge was the most suitable alternative due to its greater rigidity and better aerodynamics than competing systems with much smaller spans.
Professor Lin’s proposal was for a Gibraltar bridge crossing from Point Oliveros in Spain to Point Cires in Morocco. The bridge was to be 14 km long, with deep piers and 5 km spans. The estimated construction cost was US$ 15 billion.
In 2004 Eugene Tsui, an architect from the United States published his design for the Strait of Gibraltar Floating Bridge, the longest bridge in the world. The design is to connect Europe with Africa from Tarifa to Point Cires in Morocco. This incredible design features an original floating and submerging concept which incorporates a 3 mile wide floating island at the centre. There are 24 lanes for vehicle traffic and 4 lanes for trucks and buses along with 2 high speed trains. In addition 5 pedestrian lanes are elevated above the traffic lanes, which can also be used by cyclists.
Tsui has designed this unique concept with both the environment and tourism in mind and has provided the largest wind and water power farm in the world which can generate enough electricity to power the Spanish province of Cadiz and Morocco. As a tourist attraction, Tsui’s Gibraltar bridge could increase the current annual visitors to both Spain and Morocco by 2600%, an amazing increase of 2.3 million to 60 million tourists per year! An attractive design, the floating bridge will float gracefully on and under the water. The first mile of the bridge extends out from the coast and then gradually slopes under the sea for 2 miles at a maximum depth of 200 metres. The bridge will then slope up to the centre island of 3 miles in length, continuing down again into the sea and finally elevating to the neighbouring continent. The design has allowed for the passing of large ships where the bridge is submerged and also leaves the sea currents undisturbed. The estimated costs, as at 2004, to build such a bridge is US$ 10 billion. As such an ambitious design, could this become the 8th Wonder of the World?
Click here for further information on the Floating Bridge
Since the 1980s the idea of a Gibraltar tunnel across the Straits has been discussed, but for petrol or diesel driven vehicles this has not been possible due to the problem of proper ventilation to remove the exhaust fumes from the tunnel. As a joint project between two publicly owned companies in Spain and Morocco, plans for a railway tunnel to join the two continents, similar to the Channel Tunnel, have been underway since 2003 and are hoped to be operational by 2025. A report on the feasibility of the tunnel is due to be presented to the EU in 2009. The Gibraltar tunnel length would be approximately 39 kilometres and the lowest elevation 300 metres below sea-level. The Strait depth extends to 900 metres and stretches to 14 kilometres wide at its narrowest point between Spain and Morocco. The Swiss engineer, Giovanni Lombardi, is entrusted with this design and feels that this project may be his toughest yet. The project proves to have many challenges due to the depth of the Strait (5 times deeper than the Channel Tunnel) and the underlying seabed conditions.
The design for the tunnel is for two tubes for train lines with an emergency or service tunnel running through the middle. Like the Eurotunnel project, the trains would carry both cars and passengers. Scientists and politicians on both sides of the Mediterranean are convinced that this design will become a reality and the estimated cost is between $8 billion and $13 billion. It is hoped that the funding can be raised by two publicly owned companies in Spain and Morocco, with some EU support.
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