Hasta La Ideas

To say that the air quality in Chinese cities is bad is an understatement, as you can see below.

Statistics and image via Air Quality Index China

To tackle this, the municipal government of the city of Xian (population 8.7 million), the capital of Shaanxi province, has constructed what is essentially a massive air purifier. Standing some 33 stories (100 meters) tall, the tower is currently being tested by environmental scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Here’s how it works, according to the South China Morning Post:

The system works through greenhouses covering about half the size of a soccer field around the base of the tower. Polluted air is sucked into the glasshouses and heated up by solar energy. The hot air then rises through the tower and passes through multiple layers of cleaning filters.

Scientist Cao Junji, who heads up the research team, told the paper that “improvements in air quality had been observed over an area of 10 square kilometres (3.86 square miles) in the city over the past few months and the tower has managed to produce more than 10 million cubic metres (353 million cubic feet) of clean air a day since its launch.”

Cao also claims that the tower “barely requires any” electricity to run during daylight hours. Like you, I’m very curious as to how this all works. With any luck we’ll learn more in March, when the research team is expected to release their full report.

Should the findings prove positive, the plan is to start building absolutely gigantic versions of these smog towers. The research team has filed a patent application for a 164-story (500 meter) tower with a greenhouse base that covers nearly 12 square miles (30 square kilometers). A single facility of that size, they reckon, would be able to clean the air for “a small sized city.”

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has proposed building a massive bridge across the English Channel, which would see a second link created between Britain and France.

The idea for the 22-mile-long Channel Bridge was reportedly put forward during an Anglo-French summit that took place on 18 January 2018.

During the meeting, which was called to discuss issues including Brexit and immigration, Johnson is understood to have described the current underground tunnel connecting the two countries as “ridiculous”.

French president Emmanuel Macron agreed – saying “let’s do it”, according to a report by The Telegraph.

Bridge part of a series of “major projects” between UK and France

Johnson, who played a lead role in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union in 2016’s referendum, tweeted: “I’m especially pleased we are establishing a panel of experts to look at major projects together.”

“Our economic success depends on good infrastructure and good connections. Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step?” he continued.

If the project were to get the go-ahead, it would be one of the biggest bridges in the world.

Johnson’s plans met with ridicule from industry figures

But the foreign secretary’s suggestion has largely been met with scepticism and ridicule.

The UK Chamber of Shipping tweeted: “Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world’s busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges”.

Business Insider’s political editor Adam Bienkov remarked: “A reminder that Boris Johnson’s previous plans for public money have included an island airport in a birdstrike zone, the most expensive footbridge in history and a bus that was so hot inside it doubled up as a mobile sauna.”

The Guardian’s architecture critic Olly Wainwright jibed: “What are the odds that Thomas Heatherwick has already designed it?”, while architect Alan Dunlop told The Times it would be easier and less expensive to “just move France closer”.

But Ian Firth, senior vice president at the Institution of Structural Engineers, has said that he believes building such a bridge is “entirely feasible”.

“It has been looked at before,” he said in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Before the tunnel was built there were bridge options being looked at and of course it is doable.”

Downing Street denys plans for Johnson’s Channel Bridge

But Downing Street has since down-played rumours surrounding the bridge, saying that there are “no specific plans” and that Johnson had simply proposed the idea of a “fixed link”.

Johnson isn’t the first to propose an above-sea link between the two countries – transport officials submitted plans for one in 1981.

The post Boris Johnson proposes 22-mile bridge to link England and France appeared first on Dezeen.

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