Bridge to Portpatrick

[dgadee]

As far as I recall there was a piece of old telegraph cable sticking out of the sand near Millisle. They will definitely plough or jet in the whole route to a depth of 1 or maybe 2 metres, using a plough or/and an ROV, well beyond scallop dredges or anchors.
Denis (ex ROV Pilot, Global Marine).

Of course, the better idea would be the garden bridge between Donaghadee and Portpatrick. The cable could then be carried on it.

No word back yet from Joanna Lumley.

 

[dgadee]

That man Cummings may be in need of a new job soon. He seems to know a lot about science. Any idea if he knows about bridge building?

 

[awol]

That man Cummings may be in need of a new job soon. He seems to know a lot about science. Any idea if he knows about bridge building?

Give him a couple of days to back-date his credentials and he will be the expert you seek.

 

[LittleSister]

That man Cummings may be in need of a new job soon. He seems to know a lot about science.

According to scientists, he doesn't.

Any idea if he knows about bridge building?

Bridge building as in reconciling leavers and remainers?

Ah, I see! The other sort of bridge building. He doesn't know about it, but when you're as arrogant as he is you don't let ignorance hold you back.

 

[dgadee]

According to scientists, he doesn't.



Bridge building as in reconciling leavers and remainers?

Ah, I see! The other sort of bridge building. He doesn't know about it, but when you're as arrogant as he is you don't let ignorance hold you back.

We need that kind of man! I know those born again, miserable types up in Larne want our bridge. We need someone who will tell them just to Eff Off.

 

[Quandary]

We need that kind of man! I know those born again, miserable types up in Larne want our bridge. We need someone who will tell the just to Eff Off.

Not likely to be Arleen, is it? I think you are mad inviting Boris to put his bridge in your wee town, just as well it is as realistic as all his other projects.

 

[dinny]

That could be fun through an area reportedly having a lot of dumped ammunition, often with the drop locations rather imprecisely recorded.

The Moyle Interconnector power cables go just north of Beaufort's Dyke, north of the marked danger zone. Mind you they have had quite a few faults over the years!

 

[dgadee]

Larne can have it's interconnector. It certainly needs some connections - a trip to Larne is like going back to the 1950s. Donaghadee is a much more pleasant location for arrivals (except for the dog dirt, of course). I envision bus tours from the Med arriving daily.

 

[cherod]

I hope they bury it well on this side. Scallop dredgers plough up and down just where they have been surveying every year turning the seabed into a waste land.

time to stop the dredging ,, environmental nightmare .

 

[dgadee]

time to stop the dredging ,, environmental nightmare .

Too true. We need to start up a local scallop diving industry. We could even do it without air bottles. That would really give the tourists something to see when they visit 'the Dee' via Johnson's bridge **. It would be like pearl diving in the south seas.

** Joanna Lumley still hasn't got back to me, so I think I'm going to scrub her name from the project. Johnson is more reliable.

 

[dinny]

That could be fun through an area reportedly having a lot of dumped ammunition, often with the drop locations rather imprecisely recorded.

SCOT-NI 1 was laid right across Beaufort's Dyke in 1989, from Millisle to Portpatrick. I believe it is still operational, and I guess SCOT-NI3 is its replacement.
A study by Global Marine in 2018 - concluded that the section across Beaufort's Dyke would not pose a hazard, but would have to be surface-layed, though care would have to be taken to avoid (the dreaded!) free-spans.
The report contains lots of interesting information about fishing methods.
https://hostinscotland.com/storage/125/Global-Marine-Report-2018.pdf

 

[dgadee]

Very interesting report, Dinny. When we have the 'Boris Johnson Memorial A2 Garden Bridge' in place, Johnson could maybe do something about the tsunami risk to Donaghadee:

"Although very rare, tsunamis are thought to affect the area. O’Brien et al. (2013) catalogued extreme wave events on the island of Ireland. Most of these are thought to be extreme storm waves but several tsunamis, including the 1755 and 1761 Lisbon tsunamis, are recorded in the historical record. The NGDC Natural Hazards Database records an observation of the 1761 tsunami as far north as Belfast. A 1.5m run-up on the River Liffey in Dublin in 1767 may have been caused by a tsunami. Other authors report evidence for large tsunamis including transported boulders and sand sheets on Anglesey."

Larne can fend for itself.

 

[JumbleDuck]

We need that kind of man! I know those born again, miserable types up in Larne want our bridge. We need someone who will tell the just to Eff Off.

Peasy. You Donaghadonians, we Gallovidians and whatever they call people from Larne, simply need a big version of the Trinity Bridge in Crowland.

 

[dgadee]

Peasy. You Donaghadonians, we Gallovidians and whatever they call people from Larne, simply need a big version of the Trinity Bridge in Crowland.

Those Larne people might turn right at the junction and end up in Donaghadee! You need to think again.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Those Larne people might turn right at the junction and end up in Donaghadee! You need to think again.

Well, that's easily sorted. Honestly, do I have to do all of the thinking around here?

 

[Sybarite]

It has not been mentioned here but suppose one introduced a car ferry? Surely that would be cheaper?

 

[dgadee]

It has not been mentioned here but suppose one introduced a car ferry? Surely that would be cheaper?

That would appeal to Londoners - old boats purchased and painted in Stena colours with sky high ticketing! They could then spend our garden bridge money on Crossrail 2. That kind of thinking is so dispiriting. Johnson - I gather - wants us to have pride in our country again (MBGA?) A bridge built over an explosives dump would certainly show our talents and, at last, give the country back some pride.

 

[JumbleDuck]

It has not been mentioned here but suppose one introduced a car ferry? Surely that would be cheaper?

I presume it's a joke, but just in case you didn't know, there are two car ferries, from Cairnryan near Stranraer to Belfast (Stena) and Larne (P&O). The Portpatrick to Donaghadee ferry went about a century and a half ago.

A bridge would make sense for Ireland but only if (a) a high-speed railway line went all the way from London and (b) someone found a way of dealing with the fact that British railways are 4'8.5" gauge and Irish ones are 5'3". Spain dealt with this problem by building its high speed network to 4'8.5" instead of their usual 5'5.5".

It may sound daft now, but I am absolutely sure it will happen at some time. London to Dublin in three hours or so,

 

[dgadee]

I presume it's a joke, but just in case you didn't know, there are two car ferries, from Cairnryan near Stranraer to Belfast (Stena) and Larne (P&O). The Portpatrick to Donaghadee ferry went about a century and a half ago.

A bridge would make sense for Ireland but only if (a) a high-speed railway line went all the way from London and (b) someone found a way of dealing with the fact that British railways are 4'8.5" gauge and Irish ones are 5'3". Spain dealt with this problem by building its high speed network to 4'8.5" instead of their usual 5'5.5".

It may sound daft now, but I am absolutely sure it will happen at some time. London to Dublin in three hours or so,

Given that the current Dublin to Belfast train averages 50mph, that would need the same engineering prowess as the bridge over the explosives.

See Is a 60-minute Belfast-Dublin train journey time realistic ?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Given that the current Dublin to Belfast train averages 50mph, that would need the same engineering prowess as the bridge over the explosives.

Not as hard, really. Upgrading might be cheaper but building a new line to 200mph standards is pretty standard for German, French, Spanish, Italian and so on engineering firms. Just don't let anyone involved with HS2 near it.