Official Mossad documents have just been released by Iranian hackers, exposing Israel’s calculated plan to destroy the West through unchecked immigration and forced multiculturalism. It’s official: Israel wants blood on the streets of every Western [...]
The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a bill to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which gives the federal government the power to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans, and now the spying tool is expected to lapse as its last extension will expire on Friday night. The bill to renew […]
On Monday a federal judge struck down the fees, siding with 20 states and ruling that the Trump administration exceeded its authority by raising the charge without congressional approval.
The Rio-Antirrio Bridge in Western Greece is one of the world’s longest multi-span, cable-stayed bridges. Credit: Eusebius, Eusebius CC BY-SA 3.0/ Wikipedia
The Rio-Antirrio Bridge was inaugurated on August 7, 2004, one week before the opening of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Within two decades, it changed the economic landscape in Greece. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge, which connects the Peloponnese with Central Greece, had the aim of making the transport of passengers and cargo much easier. That has certainly been achieved.
The opening of the bridge was a celebration, with the first people to officially cross it being none other than the Olympic torchbearers of the 2004 Olympics. One member of that group was Otto Rehhagel, the German football coach who had led the Greek national team to their triumph in the Euro 2004 Cup just a month earlier.
The official name of the bridge is the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge, named after the nineteenth-century prime minister of Greece, who was the first man to envision such a span connecting the Peloponnese with Central Greece. Unfortunately, state finances at the time did not allow for such a large-scale project.
The 2,380-meter (approximately 1.8-mile) long bridge is one of the longest cable-stay bridges in the entire world. It improves access to and from the Peloponnese, which could previously only be reached by ferry or via the Isthmus of Corinth.
The bridge connects Peloponnese with western Greece. Public Domain
According to a recent study by the Observatory of Road Networks in Western Greece and the Peloponnese, the construction of the graceful white cable-stay bridge has already resulted in enormous financial benefits. To date, this amount is estimated to be over 400 million euros.
The experts believe that the total amount of funds the bridge’s construction will bring to the area will be more than one billion euros during the period of 2017 to 2032.
Tourist flows have also improved, which is especially noted with arrivals coming into the area from the north from the port of Patras. Travelers heading for the Ionian Sea islands and areas in Central Greece can now easily and swiftly cross through the central area of the country and back again.
The study also noted that the bridge has already had a positive effect on property values in the northern region, which has led to a significant rise in land prices. This has given added value to an area that had been largely underdeveloped, attracting investment.
Traffic flows have also benefited immensely from the creation of the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge. It not only connects two major motorways, the Ionian Odos and Olympia Odos, but transport connections between Epirus and Aitoloakarnania have been greatly improved, as well.
Before the construction of the new span, Aitoloakarnania had basically been almost completely cut off from the rest of the country.
Rio-Antirrio Bridge considered an engineering masterpiece
The construction of the imposing cable-stay bridge is widely considered to be an engineering masterpiece, owing to several solutions applied to overcome difficulties caused by its location and the geology of the region.
These difficulties included the especially deep waters of the river, the once-unstable underlying ground under the bases of the bridge, seismic activity, the probability of tsunamis, and the expansion of the Gulf of Corinth due to plate tectonics.
The seabed was first reinforced and stabilized by driving two hundred hollow steel pipes into the ground beneath each pier. The pier footings themselves were not driven into the seabed; they rest on a bed of gravel meticulously leveled to an even surface (a difficult endeavor at this depth).
During an earthquake, the piers are able to move laterally along the sea floor, with the gravel bed absorbing the energy. The bridge decking is also connected to the pylons using special jacks and dampers designed to absorb any movement.
View the fascinating video below to see all the special features of this unique and beautiful cable-stay bridge, which has already contributed immensely to the economy of the country.
Experts say climate pattern could supercharge extreme weather events and push temperatures to record highs
EL Niño has officially arrived, US officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday, and scientists predict it could be the strongest of the century.
Forecasters had previously anticipated that a phenomenon known as a super “El Niño” would emerge this summer – supercharging extreme weather events and pushing global temperatures to record heights.
The State Department on Thursday announced that it will sanction Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET) amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and the island country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the latest sanctions are pursuant of President Trump’s May 1 executive order expanding sanctions on government officials, agents “or material…
The State Department on Thursday announced that it will sanction Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET) amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and the island country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the latest sanctions are pursuant of President Trump’s May 1 executive order expanding sanctions on government officials, agents “or material…
Teens who use social media two hours daily at higher risk of depressive symptoms, study finds
Teenagers who spend hours glued to social media are likely to experience poorer mental health and a decline in wellbeing, a decade-long study shows, with young girls most at risk.
Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee this week pushed forward the Trump administration’s desired “Department of War” name change in passing their version of the annual defense policy bill. In closed-door deliberations over its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the panel included language to formally change the Department of Defense to the…
Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee this week pushed forward the Trump administration’s desired “Department of War” name change in passing their version of the annual defense policy bill. In closed-door deliberations over its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the panel included language to formally change the Department of Defense to the…
Strikes on Bemani damaged key water reservoir for 20,000 people living in area amid a historic drought in the country
Military strikes that damaged two water storage facilities in southern Iran may constitute a war crime, military and legal experts say, after reviewing media reports and visual evidence of a 10 June strike on Bemani, a small district about 2 miles from the strait of Hormuz.
It’s unclear if the strikes deliberately targeted the district’s water tanks, or if they unintentionally destroyed a key reservoir for about 20,000 people living nearby. But if the tanks were the target, then the legal question becomes critical, Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer, said. “It’s either a military objective or it’s a civilian object: attacking one is lawful, attacking the other is a war crime,” Finucane said.
Al Carns said he would consider his position as Armed Forces minister if the government’s military funding plan was “not right” - just an hour before announcing his resignation.
People in city’s minority ethnic communities speak of alarm as violence casts light on racism in Northern Ireland
As widespread violence broke out in Belfast, a list of addresses began circulating on social media. Spread geographically wide, on dozens of streets across the city, the addresses were reportedly houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) where immigrants live.
Joseph and Solomon, who are both from Eritrea, and came to Belfast as refugees, now have leave to remain and work full-time. They live on the same street as one of the properties on the list, but Joseph thought it was theirs that was meant to be on it. “It’s obviously for us,” he said.
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