Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge: Review to look into idea – but what are the main challenges?

Could a bridge or tunnel actually be built between Scotland and Northern Ireland?

It’s an idea that has been suggested several times by Boris Johnson and will now be looked at as part of a national review into UK transport connections.

The study will investigate the feasibility of a fixed link between the two nations including cost, practicality and demand.

But some critics have already dismissed the idea as impractical, arguing the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Mr Johnson has previously put a price of “about £15bn” on building a bridge which could stretch from Portpatrick in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland – a distance of more than 20 miles across the Irish Sea.

The Oresund bridge, which is a 10 mile-long road and rail link between Sweden and Denmark, is viewed as an inspiration for the potential UK crossing.

Structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth said the idea has a “huge number of technical challenges” but that it “ought to be possible” even though it would be “eye wateringly expensive”.

Source: SkyNews