US plan would have excavated more than 160 miles through Negev desert of Israel with 520 nuclear bombs to make an alternative to the Suez Canal.
There have been a number of proposals over the years for the construction of an alternate canal to the Suez Canal in Israel. These proposals have generally been motivated by the desire to provide a shorter and more direct shipping route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, as well as to reduce the dependence of Israel and other countries on the Suez Canal.
One of the most notable proposals for an alternate canal in Israel was the "Red-Dead Canal" project, which was first proposed in the 1950s. The Red-Dead Canal was a proposed canal that would have run from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, passing through Israeli territory. The canal was intended to provide a shorter and more direct route for shipping between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, bypassing the Suez Canal.
The Red-Dead Canal was also intended to serve as a source of freshwater for the region, as the water in the Dead Sea is extremely salty and not suitable for irrigation or drinking. The canal was to be lined with desalination plants that would have produced freshwater from the seawater in the Red Sea.
However, the Red-Dead Canal project was never completed due to a number of technical and logistical challenges, as well as political and environmental concerns. The project faced opposition from Egypt, which was concerned about the potential impact on the Suez Canal, and from environmental groups, which raised concerns about the potential impact on the fragile ecosystem of the Dead Sea.
Another proposal for an alternate canal in Israel was the "Mediterranean-Dead Sea Canal," which was proposed in the 1990s. This project was similar to the Red-Dead Canal, but was intended to be a smaller-scale canal that would have run from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea, passing through Israeli and Palestinian territory. Like the Red-Dead Canal, the Mediterranean-Dead Sea Canal was intended to provide a source of freshwater for the region and to reduce the dependence on the Suez Canal.
However, the Mediterranean-Dead Sea Canal project was also never completed due to a number of technical and logistical challenges, as well as political and environmental concerns. The project faced opposition from both Israel and Palestine, as well as from environmental groups.
Despite the failure of these and other proposals, there has continued to be interest in the construction of an alternate canal in Israel. Some have argued that such a canal could provide a shorter and more direct shipping route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and could also serve as a source of freshwater for the region. However, the technical, logistical, and political challenges of such a project remain significant, and it is unclear if and when an alternate canal in Israel might be built.
Nuke
A declassified US 1963 memorandum, which was declassified in 1996, the plan would have excavated more than 160 miles through Negev desert of Israel with 520 nuclear bombs to make an alternative to the Suez Canal.
The plan was from the US Department of Energy and it was backed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Memorandum suggested nuclear explosives rather than conventional method such as excavation that would be very expensive. It was estimated that four 2 megaton nuclear bomb needed for every mile, and total would be 10.4 gigaton explosives or 520 bombs.
The planed canal would be a strategically valuable and economically fruitful canal. 1500 feel depth would also help to generate hydro-electrical power.
The plan was discussed during the Cold War.
The proposal never came to function to carve out the waterway and create a canal.
Using nuke would be irradiated the landscape heavily. Politically, the Arab countries surrounding the landscape or Israel would strongly object by mentioning environmental pollution. But strategically, Israel and its allies would benefit financially, politically and strategically.
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