News China builds the longest bridge ever

[C3PO]

What we have here is a bridge gap. And, Mr. President, we must not allow a bridge gap.

:rofl:

 

[Linguofreak]

It takes more than peasants with shovels to successfully put a man on the moon, and most certainly Mars.

If the Chinese DID try to get to Mars on today's technology, chances are they won't get whoever they send back.

As has been said, the Chinese are hardly peasants with shovels anymore. I'm confident that they're just as capable as the US or Russia of putting a man on Mars and getting him back. (Of course, given the record with unmanned Mars probes, that might not make it as easy for them as it might sound). They've got more going for them than we did back in the '70's, and I'm confident we could have made a manned Mars flight then if we'd cared to do it.

Of course, the real test as to whether the Chinese get to the Moon second or Mars first is whether they care about doing it any more than the US or Russia. If they do, they don't really have anybody racing them for it, and if they don't make it on the first try, they can try again until they either make it or stop caring. If they don't care, who gets there is a simple matter of who starts caring first, if anybody ever does.

 

[Urwumpe]

The real test of China will be, if their economy is halfway that, what it expects it to be.

The coast line is beautiful, but the land deep inside is a post-industrial desert, that will cause a lot of problems.

 

[FADEC]

Good times for China these days. They are now also world export champion, and Germany has become vice champion. But I am not worried. China is a great country. Not only geographically or in relation to population, but it also has quite a long and interesting history. Yes, there is the human rights things going on. But although it might sound selfish or vicious, but that's not my problem. It's a political problem, and I am not a politician or activist. I still like China, regardless of what the media reports here and there. I also met some Chinese people here in Germany, mostly students, and they are really pleasant and smart people. You won't guess they are comming from a suppressed country at all. But it may be because it's mostly the privileged population.

I would also like to see a Chinese competitor to Airbus and Boeing by the way. The Comac C919 at least looks pretty modern. The more progress we have in such technologies, the better for our future I think. And why should it always be the western world which builds the biggest and most modern things? As an airline I possibly wouldn't be worried to also buy Chinese aircraft as long as they fit into my fleet and purposes.

 

[Urwumpe]

I think no such record bridge can mess with the sheer eye-watering beauty of the Millau Viaduct. Those bridges are just put into shallow water on simple poles for the simple length of them, for the record, while the Millau viaduct is defying gravity.

 

[Solar424]

China has yet to launch a probe into Martian orbit. Their first independently launched Mars probe is yet to be announced. You must crawl before you can walk, and you must walk before you can crawl. China is in the pre-crawling phase, while The U.S. has been walking since Viking.

 

[C3PO]

You must crawl before you can walk, and you must walk before you can crawl.

:blink:
I'm not familiar with that proverb.

 

[Urwumpe]

:blink:
I'm not familiar with that proverb.

Is likely by Confucius.

 

[C3PO]

Is likely by Confucius.

Well, mission accomplished. I'm confused. :lol:

 

[jedidia]

You must crawl before you can walk, and you must walk before you can crawl.

shouldn't that be "...you must walk before you can run"?

 

[Bloodworth]

50 miles.

And that is not longest bridge ever.
It is the worlds longest bridge over water.

The longest bridge is the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge.
At 164,800 m or just over 102 miles.

Hate to disappoint you but the shortest point between the US and russia is 3 miles. Little diomede and Big diomede islands straddle the border between american and russian waters in the bearing sea and are only 3 miles apart.

 

[jedidia]

I'm afraid building a bridge between those two points won't make much sense, though :lol:

 

[Linguofreak]

Hate to disappoint you but the shortest point between the US and russia is 3 miles. Little diomede and Big diomede islands straddle the border between american and russian waters in the bearing sea and are only 3 miles apart.

But when you add in the 28 mi from Big Diomede to the Russian mainland, and the 16 from Little Diomede to the Alaskan mainland, you still come out with 47 (28+16+3) miles of bridge that you have to build if you want to be able to drive across the Bering straight. Round it off to the nearest 10 and you've got 50 miles.

 

[C3PO]

The problem with the Bering strait bridge is making a pylon that can withstand the drifting ice bearing down on it every year.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The problem with the Bering strait bridge is making a pylon that can withstand the drifting ice bearing down on it every year.

That is absolutely not a problem if you think about efforts to build roads connecting this bridge from the both sides to Russian and American mainlands. And railroads, too.

 

[Fabri91]

But it would make for an interesting roadtrip, potentially from South-Africa or Portugal to Tierra del Fuego.

 

[GoForPDI]

Now thats an impressive bridge.

And I really hate how American's just put China down all the time.. you would think they were scared of them!

 

[SiberianTiger]

But it would make for an interesting roadtrip, potentially from South-Africa or Portugal to Tierra del Fuego.

Actually, a shorter route from Eastern Asia to North America, because it mostly follows the Great Circle. So maybe it might be Asian producers who'd see this road an important infrastructure project improving their trade?

 

[C3PO]

That is absolutely not a problem if you think about efforts to build roads connecting this bridge from the both sides to Russian and American mainlands. And railroads, too.

[ErrorBeep] Wrong! :lol:

I watched a program called "The Bering Strait Bridge" a few weeks ago (on Discovery or National Geographic). Building the roads is no problem with current technology, but at this time there's no way to build a safe bridge there.

 

[SiberianTiger]

[ErrorBeep] Wrong! :lol:

I watched a program called "The Bering Strait Bridge" a few weeks ago (on Discovery or National Geographic). Building the roads is no problem with current technology, but at this time there's no way to build a safe bridge there.

Great, then just dig a tunnel! By the way, in "case of emergency", a bridge can be demolished by air strike, while it's NOT SO EASY to do with a tunnel, while its heads are secured. :rofl:

Seriously, I think you must be underestimating how costly is to build connecting ways. I counted 3700 kilometres of new railroad track (given Yakutsk is eventually connected) across permafrost, hundreds of rivers and across two mountain ridges.



Here is a schematic of big and small mountain ridges of Eastern Siberia:

Yes, modern technology displays wonders in Switzerland, but Switzerland is just... 250 km across?

History of projects like [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikal_Amur_Mainline"]Baikal-Amur Mainline[/ame] and Salekhard-Igarka Railway is very educative.