Why haven’t New Zealand residents built a bridge yet between the two islands – North and South? Then the journey would take less time.
The Cook Strait, which separates the islands today, is 22 km wide at its narrowest point. To overcome such a distance, people need 3-3.5 hours.
In fact, the idea of making a tunnel or bridge between the islands was really voiced. But no one took the idea seriously. There are several explanations for why this happens.
The width of the 22 km strait is not an obstacle to the construction of a bridge or tunnel. But this strait is considered a kind of “challenge” for locals (they even compete over who can cross it) and ships (it’s one of the most dangerous sea areas in the entire world). In addition, the depth of the strait is 128 m.
All of the above reasons make it impossible to build a bridge across the strait. As for the tunnel, its creation will cost the country about 10 billion US dollars. And this is considered economically unfair.
Also, engineer Alessandro Palermo proposed building a floating underwater structure. This “tunnel” will be placed at a depth of 20-50 m as planned and will be anchored to the base with anchors. However, today there is still not a single completed project of such a tunnel.
Source: Ferra
