The Bin Laden Bridge - Connecting Africa And Asia
I foresee a day when every continent will be connected by some man-made land mass - specifically a bridge - as unfathomable as that might sound in 2008. A time will come when one will be able to drive the 3000 or so miles from New York City to Lisbon, Portugal, much like we drive cross-country from the east coast to California. And train tracks will likely follow... chug... chug... chug...
I found this intriguing report on the Spiegel International website:
Osama bin Laden's brother is choosing a different path to prominence. Sheikh Tarik bin Laden wants to build a gigantic suspension bridge which would connect Africa to Asia.
Tarik’s bridge would cross the Bab el Mandeb, the narrow straits where the Indian Ocean feeds into the Red Sea. Bearing a six-lane highway, a railway line and an oil pipeline, the structure would stretch fully 29 kilometers (18 miles) between continents -- an unprecedented piece of engineering. Huge pillars would have to be anchored to the sea floor some 300 meters (984 feet) below the surface. They would be spaced three kilometers apart.
The bridge alone will cost $25 billion... Sheikh Tarik himself plans to invest $10 billion of his own money.
But one question hasn't yet been answered: Why? Sheikh Tarik isn't saying. Doubts, in short, are plentiful, but Tarik's spokesman insisted that the project would be underway by next year at the latest -- a start that will be quickly followed by a ferry service and a cement factory. But if all goes well, by 2025, the area will look radically different...
Read it all here: CONNECTING ASIA TO AFRICA
I found this intriguing report on the Spiegel International website:
Osama bin Laden's brother is choosing a different path to prominence. Sheikh Tarik bin Laden wants to build a gigantic suspension bridge which would connect Africa to Asia.
Tarik’s bridge would cross the Bab el Mandeb, the narrow straits where the Indian Ocean feeds into the Red Sea. Bearing a six-lane highway, a railway line and an oil pipeline, the structure would stretch fully 29 kilometers (18 miles) between continents -- an unprecedented piece of engineering. Huge pillars would have to be anchored to the sea floor some 300 meters (984 feet) below the surface. They would be spaced three kilometers apart.
The bridge alone will cost $25 billion... Sheikh Tarik himself plans to invest $10 billion of his own money.
But one question hasn't yet been answered: Why? Sheikh Tarik isn't saying. Doubts, in short, are plentiful, but Tarik's spokesman insisted that the project would be underway by next year at the latest -- a start that will be quickly followed by a ferry service and a cement factory. But if all goes well, by 2025, the area will look radically different...
Read it all here: CONNECTING ASIA TO AFRICA
0 comments:
Post a Comment