Israel also has Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

They're both Sunni. They've been pals for years--before Anwar Sadat made peace, KSA used to fund Egypt's periodic wars w/Israel. They go back a long ways...

Asking for a friend.

and how much corruption will be involved in the building process

active fault and shoddy materials-lots of deaths

active fault and not shoddy materials-has possibility of being safe

It will hold them together.

Ahem.

...there would have to be maintenance done to adjust for plate movement every few decades. I think the relative plate movements in that exact area are not very large, though.

If this is built, would it mess up shipping access to Haifa?

or whatever it will be called by the time they finish it.

And would be a prime, fat target in a general mid-east war.

Last edited Sat Apr 9, 2016, 03:16 PM - Edit history (1)

The Tracks on a Tank last less than 2000 miles and that include any maneuvering. Yes, the US Tanks that took Baghdad did about the much movement, but one of the fears was if Saddam forces had put up more of a fight for Baghdad or Iran had intervene, we would have had to abandon those tanks in any retreat. In the actual fighting no such retreat occurred for Iran stayed out of the War and Saddam force collapsed as US tanks marched into Baghdad.

Given the distances between the center of Arabia where most of the Saudi Arabian tanks are kept and Egypt, any tanks sent to Egypt will be by ship (there is no rail service between the two countries). Now wheeled combat vehicles can go 20,000 or more miles without having to change their tires, thus such vehicles have higher value when long range movement is required. On the other hand such wheeled vehicles have much lower off road capability and that is critical in a desert area like Saudi Arabia for do to the dry conditions, you have a lot of loose sand. In such conditions you need tracked vehicles.

On the other hand to move troops from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, or Egypt to Saudi Arabia, wheeled vehicles on a paved road could go from the Nile River valley to Mecca in less then a day (Through the troops will be useless after such a long trip, they will need a few days to recover). Such a trip is possible in wheeled vehicles, but if anyone tried to delay them, such a delaying tactic will be more effective on such wheeled vehicles than track vehicles, for the later has a much better ability to go cross country and by pass any delaying forces.

Given the situation in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the concern in internal security on both countries and thus wheeled vehicles will be the preferred way to move troops from one country to the other. If tanks are needed, they can come by ship later (which is what the US did during the wars with Iraq, the US flew troops then brought in tanks later, two to three months later for that is how long it took the tanks to arrive by ship from Europe and the USA). Wheeled vehicles are perfect internal security vehicles, armor and machine guns to keep any domestic revolt from getting out of hand. No need for the big guns or better off road capacity of tanks.

Just a comment that this bridge military usage will be the movement of wheeled vehicles NOT Tanks. Tanks could be able to use it, but why wear out their tracks unless the area is in open revolt? Any tanks usage in the area will be against Jordan or Israel and such an attack will be while north of this bridge. If tanks do cross that bridge it will be on wheeled tanks hauling trucks and trailers NOT under their own tracks.

This is how tanks travel when NOT in combat:



http://www.military-today.com/trucks/m1070a1.htm

This is how tanks get moved over land:

Did not realize how limited thier rang was, thanks.

Or 500 miles for four days. Thus a lot of movement but no where near what you can do on rubber tires.

When I was riding in M113 Armoured Personal Carrier we used it for two weeks (I was in National Guard) and never had problems with the tracks, but most were in shortage before we used them and had all new tracks when we started our two weeks. We had to do daily maintenance to make sure the tracks did not fall apart but never had to replace the tracjs. Our training was aimed at actual combat thus actual travel with our training was minor. That is unlike actual combat where you end up go long distance just to get to the area of combat.

In most cases 2000 miles tends to be sufficient for most purposes but any long distance movement is best done by a wheel vehicle. Thus the bridge is best used by wheeled vehicles. Thus two weeks of usage by tracked vehicles is doable.

That's a lot of bridge over water to drive tanks across :-P

Of course with tectonic plates, all are dangerous.