Bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland ‘would cost £335bn’
A bridge linking Northern Ireland to Scotland could cost up to £335 billion pounds to build.
A report for the Government on whether a fixed link across the Irish Sea is possible also says a bridge or tunnel could take up to 30 years to complete.
The Prime Minister has previously talked up the creation of a fixed link to boost connectivity, but it is understood the idea has been scrapped as it would be too expensive and technically challenging.
The report, carried out as part of a review into how to boost connectivity across the UK, found replicating the channel tunnel between Northern Ireland and Scotland could cost up to £209 billion.
The feasibility study - titled 'Fixed Link between Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Technical Feasibility' - was led by Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy.
He was asked by the Government in October 2020 to investigate the possibility of building a bridge or tunnel.
The report considers some of the key obstacles to construction including the depth of the Irish Sea.
It says one of the engineering challenges would be Beaufort's Dyke, a trench which is more than 200 metres deep.
The paper also highlights the difficulty in construction caused by dumped unexploded bomb material.
Sir Peter said the price of either project “would be impossible to justify” as “the benefits could not possibly outweigh the costs”.
It states from "World War 1 to the 1970s, in the order of a million tons of unexploded ordnance may have been dumped in Beaufort’s Dyke and the North Channel, much of it unrecorded."
It continues: "The bulk of material was dumped in the immediate aftermath of the two world wars. At the time, this was an internationally recognised disposal method for surplus munitions.
"This area would need to be carefully surveyed and the necessary mitigation built into the project plan."
While the report believes up to 35,000 jobs could be created in the construction of a fixed link between Northern Ireland and Scotland it estimates that from planning, design and construction a bridge or tunnel could take up to 30 years to complete. The review says while it is technically possible to build a link "they would be the longest undersea tunnel or the longest span bridge ever built."
Plans to build a tunnel or bridge across the Irish Sea were reportedly scrapped in September.
A Government official told the Financial Times the link - proposed between Portpatrick and Larne - was 'dead - at least for now'.
The idea was heavily derided in Scotland before being dropped.
Stormont's Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has also welcomed the formal recommendation that the Boris Bridge project should not proceed.
Earlier this week, the SDLP MLA sent a memo to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on him to hand over the funds for the failed bridge project to the North.
She has consistently called the plans a “Tory vanity project”.
The Union Connectivity Review, which was published by the Government on Friday, looks at how could be improved across the UK.
It makes several recommendations for the Government to help the Northern Ireland Executive to improve infrastructure.
Support the Northern Ireland Executive to develop, fund and implement a long term pipeline of improvements to transport infrastructure;
Agree with the Northern Ireland Executive a plan and funding to upgrade the railway on the Northern Ireland corridor, including better connectivity to the three airports and seaports, and to and from Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, and examine the potential to reopen closed lines.
Provide funding and major project expertise to the Northern Ireland Executive to support their work with the Republic of Ireland relating to the All Island Strategic Rail Review and its implementation, including connectivity between Belfast and Dublin, between Derry/Londonderry and North West Ireland, and to and from the three airports and the seaports.
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