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Home Politics

‘Not vaguely predictable’: Reaction as Boris bridge gets scrapped

A report found that the bridge would need some of the largest support towers ever constructed and would run across an offshore ammunition dump.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2021-11-21 09:23
in Politics
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Boris Johnson’s dreams of a bridge connecting Northern Ireland and Scotland were dead in the water after a study by the government concluded such a project would be “very difficult and expensive”.

Sir Peter Hendy, the Network Rail chairman, was tasked by the prime minister in June 2020 with conducting a wider “Union connectivity review” to assess improvements to transport links between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Last September Mr Johnson asked civil servants to consider the building of a 21-mile bridge between Northern Ireland and the British mainland at an estimated cost of £20 billion.

A possible bridge or tunnel between Portpatrick in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland was included in the overall review but is set to be officially scrapped in the coming weeks as the study will be made publicly available.

A Government source told The Telegraph: “Hendy has examined if this is affordable and practical and he concludes it would be technically very challenging at the moment.

“That’s not to say it won’t become viable at some point in the future, but at the moment it would be very, very difficult and expensive.”

Deep water

Natural difficulties would make the project impossible as water in the North Channel of the Irish Sea is too deep.

The water runs more than 1,000 ft deep in places, meaning that some of the largest support towers ever constructed would have been necessary.

Risks of explosions in the seabed were also put into consideration as the area was used as an offshore ammunition dump in the Second World War.

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Strong gales in the region would have also closed a bridge crossing for up to 100 days a year for safety reasons.

Reaction

Reacting to the news on social media, many seemed to think the news was oh-so-predictable.

Here’s a pick of what people had to say:

Not vaguely predictable https://t.co/FZsZWmN9x2

— Joel Taylor (@JoelTaylorhack) November 21, 2021

What's more ridiculous is this was even an idea in the first place to cancel.

— Show Me A Sign (@ShowMeASignBryn) November 20, 2021

Review declares Boris Johnson's dream of a fixed-link connecting Northern Ireland and Scotland would be too technically challenging and expensive.
Most people didn't require a review to understand that, like Brexit, it was simply ridiculous, like Johnson.https://t.co/9xOS2rzE6F

— Brexitshambles (@brexit_sham) November 20, 2021

In perhaps the least surprising news of the year…

Boris Johnson has shelved his dream for a bridge or tunnel connecting Northern Ireland with Scotland, after a review concluded it would be too technically challenging and expensive https://t.co/mko06M4nb0

— Darren McCaffrey (@darrenmccaffrey) November 20, 2021

How much did they spend on finding this out? It was obvious (to many) from the outset that a bridge to Ireland was a nonsensical idea:
Deep water and steep gradients make Boris Johnson's dream of a fixed-link between Northern Ireland to the UK unviable.
https://t.co/va2vLYQH3e

— Slough for Europe 🇪🇺💙 (@SloughForEU) November 21, 2021

Shelved alongside his other self aggrandising schemes like The Garden bridge The Boris Airport on The Thames etc etc etc… I wonder how much he's wasted on this.https://t.co/QDu3m7SSok

— Barbara (@BarbaraSutton15) November 21, 2021

Related: Johnson will U-turn on scaled-back rail plan, George Osborne predicts

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