Posted on 04/14/2015 3:30:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Construction project is believed to be under consideration and is part of proposed extension to link China with Nepal by rail
China is considering extending a railway line linking the country to Nepal via a tunnel under Mount Everest, according to Chinese state media.
The proposal is the latest in a series of ambitious rail schemes Beijing is reportedly examining. It comes amid scepticism about whether some of the projects will ever get off the ground and at a time of a growing Chinese presence in Nepal, which has caused some concern in rival regional power India.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway already links the rest of China with the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and beyond, and an extension running as far as the international border is already being planned “at Nepal’s request”, the China Daily quoted a railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering as saying.
The project is expected to be completed by 2020, the newspaper cited a Tibetan official as saying. Extending the line would potentially forge a crucial link between China and the huge markets of India. It was raised by the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on a visit to Kathmandu in December, according to Nepalese reports.
“The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma so that workers may have to dig some very long tunnels,” railway expert Wang Mengshu told the China Daily, referring to Mount Everest by its Tibetan name.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Yeah, and I’m building a mansion out of candy wrappers and old socks.
Will double as a bomb shelter...
China should consult Mexicans or Palestinians. They are experts at digging tunnels.
China has helped build many avenues into and around Nepal, almost as if they were designed for an invading army.
See the Ring Road in Katmandu.
A section of 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) is currently being expanded eight-lanes in cooperation of the Chinese government.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Road_(Kathmandu)
Well, the Chinese do have experience digging tunnels for trains. Just ask Edward Harriman and Leland Stanford.
To do this by 2020 seems pretty ambitious. But a nation that can build the Great Wall without the tools that we now have can build a railroad underneath Mr. Everest I’m sure.
At least it’s not a bridge to nowhere.
“To do this by 2020 seems pretty ambitious. “
Ha! It’ll take them at least 10 years to finish the community and environmental impact studies,,,, Hey, wait just a cotton pickin’ minute here
They better have some damn good engineers, and not cut the usual Chinese corners with shoddy materials.
That said, I actually wouldn’t mind working that job; If they actually pull it off, they are going to run across some wonderful minerals.
Actually, it is. Nepal has no railroads.
So, the Chinese would have to build the Nepal rail net to connect to it. No easy task in Nepal's mountainous and hilly northern half.
I thought the Han Canal, a 120+ mile structure, built in 486 BC, was a much more impressive (and useful) endeavor. Water control is much more complicated than simply building a wall.
Haha! Yeah, this sounds like the bridge to America that they proposed, presumably when the PLA pointed out that the PLAN would be treading water shortly after the outbreak of hostilities.
I read somewhere this could be followed up by a further tunnel.
Point taken, but I would have to assume that those issues will be taken into consideration and provisions made prior to breaking ground. It may well be mutually beneficial for Nepal to lay some track as well.
Since the U.S. has been fundamentally transformed, the rest of the world is forced to act accordingly. Nobody can depend on Uncle Sam’s protection nor can they expect promises to be kept. For years now alliances, both military and economic have been forged between many in the Far East as well as South America.
We’re all hoping a Cruz administration can reverse that, but a tremendous amount of damage has been done. Once trust is lost it is not easily or quickly recovered.
I guess come 2020 we’ll know.
Big dig. The view from the tunnel... eh.
This is the first I heard of that canal. I’ll be taking some time to learn about it. Thanks.
What! Shouldn’t there be an Environmental Impact Report first?
Or Vietnamese tunneling into China?
Ah, the allure of mega projects: so expensive that a mere feasibility study of relatively miniscule cost can keep a team comfortably employed for years, so audacious that the ultra rich will invest, so amazing that it’s worth the attempt though unlikely to ever launch.
Examples?
Floating artificial nation of Oceana.
Bridge across the Strait of Gibraltar, including 4-mile suspended span.
6-continent freeway.
The Chunnel.
Ski resorts in Dubai and Atlanta.
Oh please, be creative. Build an airport on top of Everest.
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