The British government is studying the completion of an undersea tunnel between Gibraltar and Tangier, Morocco in partnership with the Moroccan government. This project would replace the one between Spain and Morocco that has failed to make any real progress. The project could be a floating suspension bridge, bridge on fixed pillars, or a supported tunnel on the seabed. If this project is built, it will be an engineering marvel like the Chunnel between England and France and hopefully, the tunnel will be built.
https://thearabweekly.com/british-moroc ... ica-europe

Will be much more technically challenging than the Channel Tunnel. The strait of Gibraltar is a seismically active region and the strait is actually quite deep, 300 and 900 meters. The Tunnel's maximum depth is 115meter.

Would be interesting to see how it is going to work, just looked at the distances involved. Marrocco - Spain is around 15/6 kilometers and Marrocco - Gibraltar, given that they probably want to avoid Cueta - Spanish territorial within Marrocco - around 22 km, so quite a bit more and thus way more expensive to build.

So it will be interesting to see if it is going to be built. Would be great for commerce and geopolitical relationships though.

Dutchy wrote:

Will be much more technically challenging than the Channel Tunnel. The strait of Gibraltar is a seismically active region and the strait is actually quite deep, 300 and 900 meters. The Tunnel's maximum depth is 115meter.

Would be interesting to see how it is going to work, just looked at the distances involved. Marrocco - Spain is around 15/6 kilometers and Marrocco - Gibraltar, given that they probably want to avoid Cueta - Spanish territorial within Marrocco - around 22 km, so quite a bit more and thus way more expensive to build.

So it will be interesting to see if it is going to be built. Would be great for commerce and geopolitical relationships though.

What were the challenges with the Seikan Tunnel in Japan like compared to what a tunnel under the Gibraltar Strait will face?

But would it be iconic...

The article is misleading, saying "Strait of Gibraltar, which is under British sovereignty". Gibraltar is under British sovereignty, not the Strait !

The tunnel would be extremely difficult to build and maintain because of the depth, it would cause all kinds of issues. The floating bridge seem to make more sense, apparently Norway is studying building several of these.

I think using Gibraltar is a bad idea for two reasons : most of the traffic would come from Spain and further, so with Gibraltar you just add borders and complications. And you need significant space to set up the entry/exit point of the tunnel, space for hundreds of trucks etc., I doubt Gibraltar has such space available.

Also the Strait is the deepest there...

johns624 wrote:

But would it be iconic...

Millions of tourists will flock to it, there will be so many they will need to build museums and hotels at both portals, just like the Channel Tunnel portals packed with day trippers, staying at fancy tent hotels visiting the museums at both ends, eating tunnel cake and going on day trips into the tunnels to play spot the economic migrant.

Aesma wrote:

The article is misleading, saying "Strait of Gibraltar, which is under British sovereignty". Gibraltar is under British sovereignty, not the Strait !

The tunnel would be extremely difficult to build and maintain because of the depth, it would cause all kinds of issues. The floating bridge seem to make more sense, apparently Norway is studying building several of these.

I think using Gibraltar is a bad idea for two reasons : most of the traffic would come from Spain and further, so with Gibraltar you just add borders and complications. And you need significant space to set up the entry/exit point of the tunnel, space for hundreds of trucks etc., I doubt Gibraltar has such space available.

Also the Strait is the deepest there...

Norway already has several floating bridges.

Kiwirob wrote:

johns624 wrote:

But would it be iconic...

Millions of tourists will flock to it, there will be so many they will need to build museums and hotels at both portals, just like the Channel Tunnel portals packed with day trippers, staying at fancy tent hotels visiting the museums at both ends, eating tunnel cake and going on day trips into the tunnels to play spot the economic migrant.

But Gibraltar is so small and tight for space. Oh wait, actually, they have a port. They should park up a carnival cruise ship to serve as a museum and hotel accommodation for the droves of tourists flocking to see the tunnel. Dare I say, It could be iconic.

Aesma wrote:

The article is misleading, saying "Strait of Gibraltar, which is under British sovereignty". Gibraltar is under British sovereignty, not the Strait !

The tunnel would be extremely difficult to build and maintain because of the depth, it would cause all kinds of issues. The floating bridge seem to make more sense, apparently Norway is studying building several of these.

I think using Gibraltar is a bad idea for two reasons : most of the traffic would come from Spain and further, so with Gibraltar you just add borders and complications. And you need significant space to set up the entry/exit point of the tunnel, space for hundreds of trucks etc., I doubt Gibraltar has such space available.

Also the Strait is the deepest there...

And thus the length would increase by a factor of 1,5. Space indeed would be at a premium for Gibraltar, while most traffic would go between Spain and Marrocco and beyond.

The sovereignty is of course laughable, not only the strait is not British, Gibraltar just entered Schengen, thus........ Prestige project which will never see the light of day and not only because it suppose to be a tunnel

Kiwirob wrote:

there will be so many they will need to build museums and hotels at both portals

Surely you jest. This is a job for the Costa Victoria and the Carnival Magella, once they have been dragged ashore and converted to hotels.

Dutchy wrote:

Will be much more technically challenging than the Channel Tunnel. The strait of Gibraltar is a seismically active region and the strait is actually quite deep, 300 and 900 meters. The Tunnel's maximum depth is 115meter.

Would be interesting to see how it is going to work, just looked at the distances involved. Marrocco - Spain is around 15/6 kilometers and Marrocco - Gibraltar, given that they probably want to avoid Cueta - Spanish territorial within Marrocco - around 22 km, so quite a bit more and thus way more expensive to build.

So it will be interesting to see if it is going to be built. Would be great for commerce and geopolitical relationships though.

Maybe go the submerged floating tunnel route. Aside from the challenges that has, it would remove lots of the "down in the rock" problems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submerged_floating_tunnel

best regards
Thomas

This connection would be by the mercy of Spain. Most traffic will be Spain / EU bound and major custom checks needed.

tommy1808 wrote:

Dutchy wrote:

Will be much more technically challenging than the Channel Tunnel. The strait of Gibraltar is a seismically active region and the strait is actually quite deep, 300 and 900 meters. The Tunnel's maximum depth is 115meter.

Would be interesting to see how it is going to work, just looked at the distances involved. Marrocco - Spain is around 15/6 kilometers and Marrocco - Gibraltar, given that they probably want to avoid Cueta - Spanish territorial within Marrocco - around 22 km, so quite a bit more and thus way more expensive to build.

So it will be interesting to see if it is going to be built. Would be great for commerce and geopolitical relationships though.

Maybe go the submerged floating tunnel route. Aside from the challenges that has, it would remove lots of the "down in the rock" problems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submerged_floating_tunnel

best regards
Thomas

It is an interesting and attractive idea, but remember the water passing through the straights is immense. There is more water evaporating from the Med than is replenished by rivers, thus the water comes in from the Atlantic via the Straight. Would be interesting to see if such a construction could be made there. Much more feasible than boring down 1km and have cars and trains 1km down and up again within 25km or so. Quite a steep clime

I'm talking about floating bridges of the scale we're talking about, more than 10Km long, with something like giant oil platforms supporting it, anchored on the seabed.

As for a floating underwater tunnel, that seems a bit scary to be honest. Imagine a submarine hitting it !

You can bet it will never be built.

Aesma wrote:

I'm talking about floating bridges of the scale we're talking about, more than 10Km long, with something like giant oil platforms supporting it, anchored on the seabed.

As for a floating underwater tunnel, that seems a bit scary to be honest. Imagine a submarine hitting it !

Beat me to it. I was going to post about navies needing to update navigational charts and have a restricted depth band when transiting the strait.

johns624 wrote:

But would it be iconic...

And ironic: UK leaves the EU but spends money joining Europe to Africa.

cjg225 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

I'm talking about floating bridges of the scale we're talking about, more than 10Km long, with something like giant oil platforms supporting it, anchored on the seabed.

As for a floating underwater tunnel, that seems a bit scary to be honest. Imagine a submarine hitting it !

Beat me to it. I was going to post about navies needing to update navigational charts and have a restricted depth band when transiting the strait.

Think of the possibilities. Get those Star Trek clear aluminum walls with some lights to see the sea life

Gibraltar is tiny, has a great big hill in the middle of it, and the population density is very high. Plus, everyone entering Gibraltar has to cross over a live runway
The area south of Algeciras, heading towards Tarifa is much emptier, albeit still hilly and ,critically, nearer to Morocco (i.e. likely billions of euros cheaper). The fact that the BBC haven't picked up on this, suggests this is probably just somebody's fantasy
If Spain and Morocco can't find a way to build a tunnel, then it probably means it's not economically or politically viable right now. Come back in 10 years time and we can discuss again then