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The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

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Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#4
This was back in the days when folks in Europe were still capable of doing really ambitious technical things.

That particular project may have turned not to be economically viable, but it was at the very least thought of and studied seriously.

That kind of burning flame has now died miserably, and all Europe is now capable of doing is keeping the lights on.

Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#5
post #4

This was back in the days when folks in Europe were still capable of doing really ambitious technical things. That particular project may have turned not to be economically viable, but it was at the very least thought of and studied seriously. That kind of burning flame has now died miserably, and all Europe is now capable of doing is keeping the lights on.

High speed rail? The large hadron collider at CERN? Also, Rail Baltica…

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/09/16/the-high-speed-rail...

Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#6
post #4

This was back in the days when folks in Europe were still capable of doing really ambitious technical things. That particular project may have turned not to be economically viable, but it was at the very least thought of and studied seriously. That kind of burning flame has now died miserably, and all Europe is now capable of doing is keeping the lights on.

Don't know what you are talking about (in this specific context). The size of the pictured ships/boats/barges seems rather small.

And thus would easily be matched or topped in capacity by anything rolling trough the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel , faster.

Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#8
post #4

This was back in the days when folks in Europe were still capable of doing really ambitious technical things. That particular project may have turned not to be economically viable, but it was at the very least thought of and studied seriously. That kind of burning flame has now died miserably, and all Europe is now capable of doing is keeping the lights on.

High speed rail? The large hadron collider at CERN? Also, Rail Baltica… https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/09/16/the-high-speed-rail...

You mean the same Rail Baltica that has been delayed since forever?

Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#9
I'm not an expert in this area, though the efficiencies of canal systems have interested me greatly in recent years. What's interesting to me is that even today, few canal systems seem to have elevation gains of more than a few metres.

Among the greatest lifts I'm aware of are the Erie Canal (no longer commercially operated, though accessible by pleasure craft), which rises 174m (571 ft) above sea level. Canada's Trent-Severn Waterway origionates on Lake Ontario at 74m (243 ft) elevation. The Panama Canal rises only 26m (85 ft) to Lake Gatun. And the Suez Canal operates without locks.

Which makes the 1,200 m gain of Caminada's proposal all the more audacious. And ... perhaps ... impractical.

Re: The Dream of an Alpine Waterway

#10

I'm not an expert in this area, though the efficiencies of canal systems have interested me greatly in recent years. What's interesting to me is that even today, few canal systems seem to have elevation gains of more than a few metres. Among the greatest lifts I'm aware of are the Erie Canal (no longer commercially operated, though accessible by pleasure craft), which rises 174m (571 ft) above sea level. Canada's Tre…

My guess is that this is more about practicality than anything. There's hardly a need for such high elevation locks I think, and where there is, tunneling is better.
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