Despite not being a new initiative, the architectural megaproject that seeks to unite United States with Europe, through an underwater tunnel, has once again captured the attention of companies, experts, and millions of people due to the recent statement and potential involvement of South African entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The richest man on Earth mentioned, in past weeks, his idea of bringing this project to life, conceived by engineer and physicist Robert Hutching, with a budget much lower than the estimate by experts: 20 trillion dollars.
However, and despite his "hopeful" proposal, the Tesla owner did not confirm the amount necessary to carry out this architectural feat or the time it would take to bring this megaproject to life.
Is it feasible to build an underwater tunnel to connect two continents?
Also known as the "father of modern rockets", Hutching was one of the specialists in the field who laid the groundwork for this mega project by registering two patents for the tunnel's construction.
According to Hutching's idea, this construction, which would challenge the laws of physics, would cover nearly 5,400 kilometers underwater with the intention of connecting the city of New York in the United States with London, England.
In subsequent years, Hutching's idea was enriched by the participation of a large number of experts and companies, who together formalized the project under the name Transatlantic Tunnel, which has gone viral on the Internet.
According to construction plans, which have been joined by various proposals, this tunnel could be constructed at around 49 meters deep with the help of cables anchored to the ocean floor.
In addition to the above, it has also been speculated that this project could be built through the more shallow sections with the help of sealed concrete modules, which have already been used in other initiatives with some similarity like the tunnel that connects Denmark with Germany.
According to a third proposal, the tunnel could combine floating parts with completely submerged sections held to the seabed with the help of cables. Lastly, as revealed by a fourth construction plan, the materialization of a kind of tube above the sea surface through various segments could be carried out.
However, due to the type of construction, only the passage of very high-speed trains would be allowed, so cars and heavy-duty trucks would not be able to travel through here.
According to estimates, this route could connect the United States and Europe in a journey of approximately 2 hours. So far, and after the variety of plans or proposals, the project continues in a very early stage of development before its possible formation.
*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence