Severn barrage

[gus horsley]

No, but if I told you what I really did I'd have to kill you and that wouldn't be very nice would it?

 

[whitelackington]

We drove home from The Ardeche, ( via Chunnel) last night
as we neared home we entered the foot & mouth zone.
I thought that was all over?

 

[whitelackington]

back on the governments agenda

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7013068.stm

 

[gus horsley]

Thanks for that bit of news Whitelackington.  I like the idea of tidal lagoons (which is what you get in a few places on the Severn anyway) - it appears to be a cheaper, more environmentally sound solution and doesn't have the major problem which created all the controversy in the 1980's which was where was the stone for the barrage going to come from.  At the time it was proposed to quarry South Wales and Mendip limestone for the core of the barrage and use Spanish Limestone for facing it.  And they'll probably want to use the same sources again...

 

[whitelackington]

Most government estimates are inaccurate, like their statistics.  The best way of estimating the cost of a barrage is to measure the flow of water (a), measured in gallons per second, multiply it by the number of homes likely to benefit from the power generated (b), divide the resulting answer by 37 (37), then find the square root of the capacity of the refrigerator of Mrs Hawkins, 13 The Laurels, Stroud (c).  This gives us a(b+37)-c2=0.

I know these things because I work for the government.

Hello Gus,
as we are meant to be striving for joined up thinking
why can't we have a tidal barrage in The Estuary which would

1) prevent a repeat of The Severn Tsunami  http://www.safecoast.org/editor/databank/File/somerset-tsunami-of-1607.pdf

2) provide a super high speed rail link, North West / South East, linking Wales with Somerset

3) produce a shit load of electricity for an awful long time

4) provide lots of work for Polish builders

and be better value than the Olympics  :-\

 

[kay]

How many people, apart from cavers, want to travel from Wales to Somerset?

Come to that, does anyone want to travel from Somerset to Wales?

 

[gus horsley]

They'll probably charge loads of money to cross the bloody thing too.  And not just one-way.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Things haven't been the same since they stopped the Aust ferry. Did anyone here ever go caving in Wales via the Aust ferry?

 

[whitelackington]

They used to have steam paddle passenger ships go daily from Weston-Super-Mare to Wales.
Apparently my aunt said lots of drunken Welshmen used to create havoc in Somerset, on their day off 

 

[wormster]

Things haven't been the same since they stopped the Aust ferry. Did anyone here ever go caving in Wales via the Aust ferry?

Remember going down to the banks of the Severn and seeing a DUKW there that apparently used to take people across.

 

[whitelackington]

back on the governments agenda

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7013068.stm

"Senior politicians in Wales and Westminster say a ?15bn plan to build a barrage across the Severn Estuary could help solve the growing energy crisis.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Welsh Secretary Peter Hain have backed plans for a barrage over the Bristol Channel. "

Not sure Peter Hain will still be there to push this through
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7188461.stm

The Police are wanting to grill him.

 

[cap n chris]

Haven't they built it yet, then?

 

[whitelackington]

No,
apparently the cement wont set,
it never stops raining

 

[mak]

Shame the Romans didn't build one for us - they knew how to get concrete to set underwater

 

[whitelackington]

It's back, again
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7202413.stm

 

[gus horsley]

The latest estimate is 15 billion quid to build the barrage.  That's a figure that will most likely be exceeded once work gets underway.  If you also take into account the massive amounts of CO2 that will be produced when the concrete is manufactured and the potentially catastrophic environmental impact, is it any wonder that people like myself are cynical about projects of this nature.

I'm reluctantly going along the way of the nuclear option.

 

[whitelackington]

The latest estimate is 15 billion quid to build the barrage.  That's a figure that will most likely be exceeded once work gets underway.  If you also take into account the massive amounts of CO2 that will be produced when the concrete is manufactured and the potentially catastrophic environmental impact, is it any wonder that people like myself are cynical about projects of this nature.

I'm reluctantly going along the way of the nuclear option.

Wot you gonna volunteer to ride the warhead Doctor Stangelove like :

 

[Hatstand]

Wot you gonna volunteer to ride the warhead Doctor Stangelove like :

Actually it was Major Kong rode the bomb 

 

[Cookie]

Actually it was Major Kong rode the bomb 

Slim Pickens in real life. What a great name.

 

[graham]

Actually it was Major Kong rode the bomb 

Slim Pickens in real life. What a great name.

Story of your life. really eh Cookie.