Alex Caruana Carabez, St Julians
An alternative undersea route to Gozo
To ostracise or isolate a part of the population due to inclement weather is indecent and indeed cruel in this day and age, hence a solution has to be quickly found to alleviate the hardship of anyone who wants to commute between the two islands.
Currently much is being written about the possibility of a tunnel but many problems of a geological and monetary kind have become apparent, with experts almost writing the project off.
I am no technical person and my suggestion might sound silly or only a basis for some fictional piece by a modern-day Wells or Verne, but I do think a simpler undersea route is feasible. Instead of digging a tunnel, lower a large pipe, made of sea concrete, precast on land and able to withstand high seawater pressure on the seabed.
During World War II undersea oil pipes were laid in the English Channel to relieve dependence on vulnerable oil tankers. This idea of mine involves a far greater magnitude but of much, much shorter distance!
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JP.Pace
Feb 10th 2011, 19:55
Ha Ha i know a better way and that is to avoid gozo altogether.
Joseph Ellul - Sydney
Feb 10th 2011, 07:51
JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION: If you look at the map of Malta you will notice that there are rifts that form the tail of the island. What you cannot see is the biggest rift. This is between Malta and Gozo. It is the deepest and most active. Due to the way Malta is attached to the African plate, the islands are more sensitive to Greek earthquakes than Sicilian. It is only the short distance of Malta from Sicily that makes Malta and Gozo respond relatively more. I advice all those concerned to study the islands' geological history in relation to earthquakes, particularly Mellieha and Gozo.
The world is going through great changes in weather and earthquakes. Malta and Gozo could well be effected.
anthony pace gouder
Feb 9th 2011, 20:40
Retired Architect and Civil Engineer had already proposed sinking into a 'prepared' seabed trench 'precast tube' sections to form a tunnel as carried in the timesofmalta.com article dated 3 rd February 2011 and titled:-
'Experts query Malta and Gozo underwater tunnel feasibility'.
r ferriggi
Feb 9th 2011, 15:51
at last,,, some common ( and practical) sense.
prosit mr BALDACCHINO
c.camilleri
Feb 9th 2011, 15:34
Can any dreamer of these projects pls tell us where the money will come from to finance their project. Years ago the idea of a bridge to link the three islands which was said to cost about 12 millions maltese liri was rejected on various grounds and the three now running ferries were preferred instead. One of the reasons if i remember well was that the Gozitans wanted to retained their own characteristics by avoiding the influx of great number of foreigners. Now things have changeda and they are clamouring for links with the mainland for trade reasons.
Alfred Grech
Feb 9th 2011, 15:19
It would be interesting to know how many days a year does the Gozo Channel cancel trips because of rough sea?
Peadar Farrell
Feb 9th 2011, 10:48
Such Precast tunnels are common enough. They are cast in a yard and floated out to the location, sunk and joined up together. They are used for short river crossings usually, the bed must be levelled and prepared before placing. It the depth of water here its a non-runner I am afraid. I must comment on the costs mentioned for a tunnel, depending on its size 500 to 800 Million would be a more reasonable cost to expect. Digging the tunnel is only half the work. The lining, sealing, air ducts, smoke extraction, lighting, drains, pumping, emergency routes and procedure, cameras, fire fighting, a place for the excavated spoil, access roadways all have to costed in to the final cost. One can also expect bad fractures in this type of rock, this will change the cost considerably in an upward direction.
victor pulis
Feb 9th 2011, 12:11
Not to mention the preventive measures needed against seismic activity since we are sitting on the edge of the Eurasian tectonic plate.
Saviour Sam Agius
Feb 9th 2011, 13:18
We're sitting on the edge of the African tectonic plate not the Eurasian one, but not that close to the edge. In fact Sicily is also on the African one.
S. Saliba
Feb 9th 2011, 15:15
@ Saviour Sam Agius. aren't we sitting BETWEEN the eurasian and african plate?
victor pulis
Feb 9th 2011, 16:28
The Eurasian plates and the African plate meet in the Mediterranean anyway that's beside the point,whatever tectonic plate we're sitting on, it's blooming dangerous!
T. Grech
Feb 9th 2011, 10:32
I am no expert myself and can't even comment on your proposal, but I have to commend your sensitivity towards the hardships that a small community has to endure day in, day out. It is so nice when this comes from someone on the other island.
Alfred Baldacchino
Feb 9th 2011, 09:17
Only yesterday I was watching an excellent travelogue on TVM featuring some of the beautiful islands off the Sicilian coast. These islands host a sizeable number of both residents and tourists throughtout the year. They are efficiently linked together, and with the mainland, by sea transport; and they would not at any time consider being bridged over.