[plug] [link,OT] One for the engineers on the list

[Leon Brooks]

Favourite quote, bottom of page 2:

    One thing to keep in mind. Building the impossible is done here on
    Earth routinely, Edwards said. 

    Take for instance the $13.5 billion Millennium Tower envisioned for
    Hong Kong Harbor. This incredible skyscraper would be 170 stories
    tall. Elevator traffic within its walls is estimated at 100,000
    people per day.

    Edwards also points to the Gibraltar Bridge project. It would span
    the Straits of Gibraltar, linking Spain and Morocco at a projected
    cost of $20 billion. The bridge would use towers, twice as high as
    the world's tallest skyscraper. Roughly 1,000,000 miles (1,600,000
    kilometers) of wire cables would be utilized in the project.

    "I think those projects are a lot harder than what I'm talking
    about," Edwards said.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html

    "I'm looking at a business plan that shows some investor could
    triple his or her money in about 6 years, and the initial
    investment could be as low as $5 billion," Edwards said.

I'll just ring my bank, and check by balance... note that Bill of Borg could 
literally pay for that in *cash* without seriously depleting his finds.

Cheers; Leon