Cowes Breakwater

Garold said:
However, I just wonder how other nations manage to provide the things that we can't afford or justify. The massive road bridge across to Ile de Re in France comes to mind. There seems less on the Ile de Re than on the IOW. And in France, they seem to have municipal marinas all over the show. Some of them are newish too. Just puzzling really.

Cheers

Garold
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The French State is very centralised and not reluctant to spend taxpayers' (or European - same thing really) money where it thinks public votes might come from.

On top of that, there is rarely a clear majority in parliament. Coalitions are commonplace. If a Deputé's vote is important to push something through, then he or she can demand state money to spent on pet projects back amongst his or her voters. Known as pork barrel politics in the good ol'USA.
 
l'escargot said:
A tunnel or bridge is the first fantasy - you need to persuade someone to cough up the billions to fund not only the bridge but also the road infrastructure either end to cope with the traffic. Then the second fantasy is that they are then going to let you drive through/over it for free or less money than it would cost you to go on the ferry. It just won't ever happen.
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You never know. Governments in the doo-doo like spending money on capital projects coz it cuts unemployment and boosts the local economy. Wins votes too.

Example - Gordy Broon's useless aircraft carriers. Lots of jobs in industrial Scotland. And then the RN - i.e. you and me – is going to have spend another fortune dredging Portsmouth Harbour and approaches just so they can park the damn things. Oh and guess what - we've got to build escort fleets for them, and buy some Sopwith Camels, too.
 
I seem to remember that when it was suggested that the machines that bored the channel tunnel were floated down to Southsea and a tunnel bored there was an outcry on the Island. It was to have been a single road tunnel. Something like 20 minutes each way with a 10 minute break. The little islanders wanted nothing to do with it.
Mainlanders forget just far removed from the mainstream the Isle of Wight population is.

I now expect to get flamed by the Cowes Herald or the like so I'll get my coat now!
 
doris said:
I seem to remember that when it was suggested that the machines that bored the channel tunnel were floated down to Southsea and a tunnel bored there was an outcry on the Island. It was to have been a single road tunnel. Something like 20 minutes each way with a 10 minute break. The little islanders wanted nothing to do with it.
Mainlanders forget just far removed from the mainstream the Isle of Wight population is.

I now expect to get flamed by the Cowes Herald or the like so I'll get my coat now!
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Who made that suggestion? Sounds more like an urban myth to me. And on what experience of the IW population do you base your view of them on?

I think you would find the outcry would be more from the mainland side. Portsmouth - nowhere for it to come up and traffic implications. Gosport peninsula - the road infrastructure can't cope with the existing traffic. Likewise Lymington/New Forest and it is a National Park with the implications that would bring. Where would you bring it up, north of Southampton or Portsdown Hill?

The nearest thing in bridges is the second Severn crossing which cost £380 million and took 4 years to build over 15 years ago. The IW would need one close to twice the length. The second Severn crossing was privately funded by 2 banks and 2 construction companies who have rights to charge a toll for 30 years, as well as collecting the tolls on the first crossing, to recoup the cost - currently £6.20 each way. Then compare the number of cars crossing the Severn Bridges each day with the number of cars that would cross to the IW and work out what the comparative cost would be... Then start thinking about the costs of the road infrastructures either end... And do we have a government flush with money who would just love to fund such a project with the ongoing cost implications for what benefit...

It will only ever be pie in the sky.
 
I quite like it being an island. One of the things that enticed me to move here actually. If the ferries really are charging extortionate rates for the fun of it then surely it's a very attractive proposition for someone to start a competing company, no?

Anyway, back on topic... the breakwater. As (sort of) stated above it's match funding. Cowes Harbour Commission are putting up roughly £3m and it's being matched by the Homes and Communities Agency. If it manages to help Cowes be less of a ghost town in the winter then great.

There's also talk of accommodating small cruise liners, though quite where they'll fit them in I don't know... can't imagine them being parked between this new breakwater and the Shrape... or maybe they'll tie them up at the Town Quay :D
 
l'escargot said:
Who made that suggestion? Sounds more like an urban myth to me. And on what experience of the IW population do you base your view of them on?
.
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I was working in Gossie at the time and there was a serious proposal to stick the Chunnel boring machines on barges and float them down to the Solent. An effort to find a constructive use for them. Sadly they were scrapped in the end, IIRC.
The mainland entrance would have been Southsea, can't remember where it would have emerged on the island. Apparently the geology is excellent for it.
 
I would bring a tunnel ashore at the ferry terminal which, funnily enough, is about 100 metres from the M275.
At the same time build a short tunnel over to Gosport, could come ashore on ex mod land or foreshore..

With the east Cowes bit starting as a breakwater. The Dutch do these sort of civic projects all the time
 
josephmoore said:
There's also talk of accommodating small cruise liners, though quite where they'll fit them in I don't know... can't imagine them being parked between this new breakwater and the Shrape... or maybe they'll tie them up at the Town Quay :D
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Cowes has an increasing number of visits from the smaller cruise liners. They anchor off in Cowes Roads and tender the passengers ashore to Trinity Landing. Problem is that if it is blowing from the north Trinity landing, and indeed any of the Cowes landing stages, become too risky to disembark passengers. The cruise companies need to be certain that if they visit Cowes then the passengers can get ashore.
 
Blueboatman said:
I would bring a tunnel ashore at the ferry terminal which, funnily enough, is about 100 metres from the M275.
At the same time build a short tunnel over to Gosport, could come ashore on ex mod land or foreshore..

With the east Cowes bit starting as a breakwater. The Dutch do these sort of civic projects all the time
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i doubt whether the continental ferry port would be too happy with a tunnel coming up in the middle of all their reclaimed land or Cowes harbour being particularly happy about having access from the east closed off. As I said, all pie in the sky...
 
If they built a bridge property prices would rocket… however it would be like selling the family silver locals would be priced out of the market.
 
The tunnel idea may be barmy because it's financially untenable, but it's still fascinating.

I wonder...if a couple of like-minded farmers, one with land in Pennington on the mainland, and the other in that quiet north-west extremity of the island two miles away...

...if they chose (with Howard Hughes-like abandonment of practicality), to just start digging, and had taken pains to stockpile plenty of corrugated iron to discourage rock-falls, is there any legal prohibition, which outlaws constructing an alternative route across the Solent?
 
Malabar said:
Cowes has an increasing number of visits from the smaller cruise liners. They anchor off in Cowes Roads and tender the passengers ashore to Trinity Landing. Problem is that if it is blowing from the north Trinity landing, and indeed any of the Cowes landing stages, become too risky to disembark passengers. The cruise companies need to be certain that if they visit Cowes then the passengers can get ashore.
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That makes sense - it wouldn't take much breeze either given the miles of open water. I hadn't really thought of them using launches to ferry passengers back and forth though I remember seeing it happening all day long from a liner anchored off Stornoway last summer.
 
Malabar said:
Cowes has an increasing number of visits from the smaller cruise liners. They anchor off in Cowes Roads and tender the passengers ashore to Trinity Landing.
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I like Cowes a lot, but on a recent visit, I was struck by how little there is to the place. Nice little street with a few chandleries, bars and restaurants, not much else.

Or would cruise ships mainly be delivering boat-loads of Americans to Osborne House? God, imagine them arriving with their cameras..."Will Ozzy be at home today?"
 
Twister_Ken said:
Out of interest - any one got figures on how many days a year Cowes is untenable because of strong northerlies?

And if so, how many of those are in winter periods when there's close to *ugger all yottin' anyway?
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You would probably be surprised how much all year round boating there is these days. When I came over here 20+ years ago there was a distinct season. Visiting boaters tailed off towards the end of September and reappeared towards the end of March. It isn't so pronounced these days and you will see visitors all year round - particularly out of season sailing school bargains and people who now have electricity and heating in their boats...:)
 
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