Inunnguat.ca

Transportation Infrastructure

Transportation will be discussed in two distinct aspects – internal and external.

Within the city, much transportation could be by foot and bicycle. Most daily travel could easily be done on foot by any reasonably healthy individual. Even travelling around the circumference of the largest dome could be done on bicycle. However, for people who can’t or don’t want to walk or bicycle, small vehicles could be used. Goods transport would most likely be done by small trucks or vans. Powered transportation would be by electric vehicles using either batteries or fuel cells, or vehicles with combustion engines fueled by hydrogen. Since the only combustion product of hydrogen is water, it can safely be used in enclosed spaces. Transportation between domes could be by light rail systems, or even by moving sidewalks.

Efficient and cheap external transportation is critical to the establishment and support of northern cities. For bulk goods transport, ice-reinforced freighters could be used. Canada does not currently have any significant capability in this area. The shipbuilding industry would no doubt welcome contracts to build such vessels. However this does not address the needs for high-priority freight or for transport of personnel. Because of the great distances involved, air transport is the only logical choice. The current infrastructure of smaller airliners and turbo-prop aircraft makes this transport prohibitively expensive. For example, it currently costs about $7500 for a round trip between Ottawa and Resolute. What is needed is a heavy-lift aircraft capacity. Speed is probably less important than cost and capacity. The obvious choice is large lighter-than-air vehicles. There are several being currently developed.

The most advanced project is that of the Aeroscraft from Worldwide Aeros Corp. They have a proof of concept in the process of FAA certification. Their projected product line includes a 500 ton capacity vehicle with a cargo dimensional capacity of 138x22x16 metres (455x74x54 feet). For perspective, a standard “C-Can” shipping container is 12.192 metres (40 feet) long. These could be placed vertically and still fit in the Aeroscraft ML-86X, or be stacked 6 high and have room left over. With a range of over 9,000 km, such a vehicle could safely fly the 3800 km from Ottawa to Resolute and return without refueling. Cruising speed is 185 KPH, so that same Ottawa – Resolute trip would take 18 hours. Again for perspective, commercial flights now take from 8 to 28 hours depending on connections.

Several proposals have been made for lighter than air vehicles to supply Canada’s northern communities. None have had any significant official support. A judicious investment would pay significant long-term dividends.

Resources

IsoPolar – Airships for Northern Latitudes: http://www.isopolar.com

Canadian Manufacturing article: http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/supply-chain/prevailing-winds-canadas-infrastructure-problem-and-the-return-of-the-zeppelin-2-154807/

Aeroscraft: http://aeroscraft.com/aeroscraft/4575666071

Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander: http://www.hybridairvehicles.com/

The Lighter-Than-Air Society: http://www.blimpinfo.com/