• Carrolade@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Given the distance required, what kind of economic payoff could be possible from such an expensive project? It’s not like overland would be a cheaper transport option than Pacific shipping routes or anything. It’s not just the Bering Strait being the problem with connecting the two after all, but the fact that there’s nothing in NE Siberia or NW Alaska to bother connecting together. Are we making it for the polar bears maybe? Or are people going to drive the thousands of miles from Juneau to Vladivostok to sightsee?

      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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        9 hours ago

        Honestly a tunnel to northern Alaska would be an amazing trap for invading armies. There’s just miles of rugged mountains before you even find a road. Then you get to deal with Canada…

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        The Soviets had no intention to invade the united states (though they did want us to have a communist revolution, but like that’s just part of communism). This is all capitalist Russia

        • ozymandias@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          11 hours ago

          they worked a lot on boats but couldn’t make them fast enough to get across…. a tunnel would work a lot better

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      It’s not like overland would be a cheaper transport option than Pacific shipping routes or anything.

      I wouldn’t be so sure. Shipping routes may be cheaper, but I bet they would still be longer. I think it takes the better part of a month to get goods from China to the US. I bet this takes more like a week.

      this article article estimates the distance at 8000 miles to the “lower 48”, presumably to Seattle. It proposes high-speed rail service to do the trip in 2 days, but I don’t think that will compete at all with air passenger service . Rather, I think freight traffic will be the real winner, and 7 days is doable at 50 mph the whole way.

      • kreskin@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        Dont forget the 2000 miles of railroad that’d need to be built, much of it over frozen terrain, and a lot of it mountainous. That in itself would be an engineering marvel even before the bridge or tunnel work.