DISCOVERIESGOLFCANHELPKEEPOLDER
PEOPLE’SHEALTHABOVEPAR
Playinggolfatleastoncea monthcould
lowertheriskofdeathamongadults
aged 65 andolder,accordingtothe
AmericanHeartAssociation.Overthe
courseof 10 years,theteamanalysed
datafromnearly5,900maleandfemale
participants with an average age of 72.Oftheparticipants,therewasa lower
rateofdeathamongthegolfers
comparedtothenon-golfers(15.1per
centversus24.6percent).The
researcherssaythatgolfoffersbenefits
likesocialinteraction,a competitive
elementandfreshair,andasit’sa gentle
formofexercise,peopleareableto
continue taking part as they get older.TheUKgovernmentis apparentlylookingintothepossibilityofbuilding a bridge between Scotland and
Northern Ireland. But is this even possible?A bridge too far?PrimeMinisterBorisJohnson’sofficial
spokespersonraiseda feweyebrows
recentlywhentheydeclaredthata
“properpieceofwork”wasbeingcarried
outlookingintothepossibilityoflinking
Scotlandto NorthernIrelandvia a bridge
spanningtheIrishSea.Atthemoment,
theleadingcandidatesforthelocationsof
theroutearePortpatrickontheScottish
coastandLarneontheNorthernIrish
coast– a spanofaround40km(25miles).
Lengthaside,therearea numberof
othersignificantchallengesthatsuch
anenormousprojectwouldraise.For
example,there’sthedepthofthesea,
whichat timesreaches 300 metres,and
thelargespansthatwouldberequiredto
letanyshipspassunderthebridgesafely,
explainedIanFirth,structuralengineer
and fellowat the Institutionof Civil
Engineers.
“Anothersolutionmightbetouse
floatingfoundations;the Norwegiansare
doingthis already,”he said.“Youhavea
floatingpontoonheldbelowthe surface
of the water.Youstillhaveto get down
thereanddrillholesintherockdown
below,butyou’renowjusttyingit down
withsomecables.Thenthebuoyant
platformis heldbelowthe waves– you
don’twantit at thesurfacebecausethen
you’regettingwaveactionand tidal
action.Youstandyourbridgestructures
onthosebuoyantplatforms.That’s
thesortofthingthatpotentiallycould
bedoable.”
Evenso, sucha structurewouldstill
leavethosetravellingacrossit at the
mercyof highwindsand heavyrain,
even taking into account any weather-
shieldingmeasuresthatcouldbe fitted.
However,theremaybe anothersolution.
“There’sanothertypeof floating
structure,a submerged,floatingtunnel.
It’snotboredthroughtherockbutsits
underthewater,”saidFirth.“Youtether
it down,shallwesay 20 metresbelowthe
water,sothatshipscangohappilyacross
thetopofit,butthethingis actually
floating.If you’rein yourcar, you’re
driving,in effect,througha tunnel.That
is a veryinteresting,and I thinkreally
quitepotentiallyplausible,solution.”
Butit’searlydaysandtherearemany
factorstoconsider,suchastheability
ofthetransportlinkseithersideof
thecrossingtocopewithadditional
traffic, and the fact that it may be moreENGINEERINGefficientto upgradethe existingferry
infrastructure,beforeanykindofdesign
workcouldbegin.
“Atthemomentit is anideaandnot
muchmorethanthat.Tobeginwithwe’d
needa pre-feasibilitystudywhichlooks
at whattheoptionsaresothatwecan
actuallyframethescopeofa feasibility
study,”saidFirth.“Afterthatpeoplelike
me couldgo awayand agoniseoverwhat
the optionsare. I believeit’s possible.But
‘possible’and‘affordable’aretwodifferent
things.I’mnottryingtoputnumbersto
it, but it is eye-wateringlyexpensive,and
nothinglikeit hasbeenattemptedbefore.
But we’rein the businessof finding
solutionsto challenges.We civilstructural
engineers are good at that kind of thing.”