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OK folks. I've gone ahead and found an online calculator for zip wire construction and have the back of an envelope handy. So here we go. https://twitter.com/nickeardleybbc/status/1227214114117824513
We need to have a minimum 3% slope on the line to allow someone to zip down it by gravity alone. The shortest distance from the Scottish coast to NI is ~34.8km. We therefore need a drop of 1,050m from either side make it across
But we have to allow for cable sag. The rule of thumb seems to be 2 feet sag per 100ft of cable. Let me just put that into grown up units.
Okay, that's 701m of cable sag from side to side. So allowing for the drop and the sag, and clearance to stop your feet getting wet, the starting towers have to be at least 1.75km taller than the ending towers
The tallest freestanding structure in the UK (and certainly one of the most awesome) is the 330m Emley Moor TV tower
The tallest cable-stayed structure is the Skelton TV tower, but that's "just" 365m. We're going to need a bigger tower...
The world's tallest structure is the Burj Khalifa, 830m from ground to tip. So we're going to need to build something 2.1 times taller than that. No biggy. This is what the country needs to unite it again, something to rally around. The common enemy of gravity.
The worlds longest zipline is the Jebel Jais Flight in the UAE, which makes use of topography to span 1,934 metres. You reach speeds of up to 93mph sliding down it, faster than any ferry or motorway. Something only 18 times longer will be a cinch, right?
Oh, my bad, it's got a 2,832m so we only need to reach 12.2x as long. This is getting easier and easier. BELFAST HERE WE COOOoooooommmmmmeeee....
Also my bad, that's the shortest distance in above calculations from the Falloway coast. Mull of Kintyre is of course c. 1/3 shorter, but those savings lost by increased road distance from central belt
Campbeltown to Glasgow aerial expressway anyone?
