is there a bridge between ireland and scotland
The idea for a Scotland to Northern Ireland Bridge, sometimes branded in the press as the Celtic Crossing or Irish Sea Bridge, was revived in 2018, by Professor Alan Dunlop at the University of Liverpool. He proposed a combined road and rail crossing between Portpatrick, in Dumfries and Galloway, and Larne in Northern Ireland, stating that ``the coastline between each country is more sheltered and the waterway better protected'' than the English Channel, where Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had recently proposed a bridge. He suggested that this would create a 'Celtic powerhouse' due to the potential for an increase in trade between the two countries, and the increase in investment from the construction of the project which he put at between £15 billion and £20 billion (a fraction of the £120 billion cost of the proposed bridge over the English Channel). Proposals to overcome the problems presented by the Beaufort's Dyke Trench, if it could not be cleared, include floating the bridge on 500m deep connecting sea orbs connected to the seabed with tension cables, similar to those used on bridges in Norway. Professor Dunlop also suggested that the construction processes used for the Øresund Bridge be looked at as a model for the proposed bridge. The National (a Scottish newspaper) suggested the idea ``would be a huge boost to the economies of both countries, opening up trade and putting the otherwise neglected far South West of Scotland in the centre of a major route''. It did however also state that ``There would have to be massive investment in infrastructure to upgrade the road and rail connections, especially on the Scottish side. (As) The main roads leading to Stranraer are narrow, twisting, and unsuited for the amount of traffic that they currently have, never mind the increased traffic that would be generated by a fixed link. The single rail line from Ayr to Stranraer would have to be upgraded and electrified, and the rail link from Stranraer to Dumfries reinstated''. It has also been suggested that such a bridge would be able to link up with the High Speed Rail project between Glasgow and Edinburgh, set to open in 2024, as well as the UKs wider High Speed Rail 2 project, and a possible Belfast to Dublin high speed rail line mooted in 2017. A 2007 paper by the Centre for Cross Border Studies had previously suggested that with track upgrades trains would be able to reach in excess of 200mph. Further support has come from the fact that this part of Scotland has a large number of established ports and harbours, meaning it could form an epicenter for trade to America, Canada, the Caribbean and Scandinavia for both Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the UK, Ireland and Europe more generally. Commentators in the i newspaper also suggested that such a bridge would have the potential to create a ``tourism corridor'' between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
British Isles fixed sea link connections