New Channel in the Chunnel

Posted on May 7, 2014May 9, 2014 by Building The World

Mobile Communications in the Chunnel. Image: wikimedia.

On May 6 (same opening day as the Eiffel Tower), Queen Elizabeth travelled by rail to Calais where a train carrying French President Mitterand awaited; the engines were positioned nose-to-nose in what some quipped was a tech galoche. Heads of State then chunneled to Folkestone for a twin ceremony on the British side. Thus, in 1994, was the Channel Tunnel “born.” On its 20th birthday, in 2014, Eurotunnel announced new kind of channel in the Chunnel: mobile telephone and internet communications.

For more:

http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uploadedFiles/assets-uk/Media/Press-Releases/2014-Press-Releases/060514.TelMobileTunnelSud.pdf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511653.stm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Frank P. Davidson: Facta non Verba

Posted on March 11, 2014May 9, 2014 by Building The World

After a lifetime of making history, Frank P. Davidson has entered history. Founder of the field of macro engineering, credited with building of the Channel Tunnel, hero celebrated for service in Normandy and featured in the Juno Beach Centre museum, Frank Davidson was awarded the title of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. When just 22, Davidson requested a meeting with United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt to propose founding a Civilian Conservation Corps camp devoted to diversity, where students of all backgrounds could work together. Camp William James was named after the author of “The Moral Equivalent of War” with recognition that preserving and honoring the environment might be a path to peace.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

2020 Vision: Seikan and Chunnel

Posted on September 27, 2013September 30, 2013 by Building The World

Seikan Tunnel, Japan. Courtesy of Wikimedia.

Japan will host the Olympics in 2020. What innovations might appear? Shinkansen, fast-trains developed and inaugurated for the Tokyo 1964 Games, proved to be successful — in safety and profitability — from the first day of operation. Japan’s Seikan Tunnel, completed for rail traffic in 1988, confirms the convenience of rapid rail; when the tunnel opened, it largely replaced ferryboats plying the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido. Similarly, the Channel Tunnel, with debut of rail service in March 1995, improved travel time from London to Paris to just over two hours. Environmental benefits are among those recognized and valued. What will Japan offer in 2020? Japanese animation may introduce spokesperson Sakura Heiwa (http://tokyomewmewfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Sakura_Heiwa). Might new transport designed for the Olympics welcoming so many nations include representatives, images, art, music, and poetry promoting Peace?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Pipelines: Trans-Alaska and Beyond

Posted on September 9, 2013September 10, 2013 by Building The World

What do you think of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline? Image courtesy of senate.gov

When the Trans-Alaska Pipeline opened in 1977, 20,000 people had contributed to the project. Results were mixed: revenue benefit brought $900 million to Alaska’s economy but exploitation of the large petroleum deposits discovered in 1968 at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska’s North Slope were scene to the largest oil spill in United States history at that time: the Exxon Valdez released a flood of pollution with long-lasting effects. But Yoshihiro Kyotani, Japanese engineer and innovator, proposed that pipelines need not be filled with just oil. Why not float transoceanic pipelines as transport tubes for container shipping or vactrains? Along with the Channel Tunnel‘s Frank P. Davidson, Yoshihiro Kyotani designed tubetrains that may be the original version of Elon Musk’s 2013 Hyperloop. For more on Kyotani, please see: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Yoshihiro_Kyotani. But today all eyes are on a pipeline in the news: Keystone XL. It’s a complex issue; for more, visit http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/09/16/130916fa_fact_lizza?mbid=social_retweet. Then please return to our blog and let your voice be heard regarding pipelines transporting energy, or perhaps floating as a vactrain from Boston to Cadiz.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Air Bags for Tunnels

Posted on November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 by zoequinn001

In the wake of Sandy’s devastation to the New York City subway system, the need for protecting transportation tunnels in the event of disaster has been made a very real issue. Flood control may be one area in which there is a feasible solution. Recently after 5 years of work, a test was done at West Virginia University of an inflatable plug for stopping the flow of water in a flood situation. While this was just a test, it is promising for tunnels large and small. In fact, it offers a possibility for places like the Channel Tunnel, where a leak could lead to a major flood.

For more information on the experiment and other flood control options, please see: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/science/creating-a-balloonlike-plug-to-hold-back-floodwaters.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121120&_r=0

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.