Would it be posible to drain the English Channel?

Question

The English Channel is a drowned river valley. Until a few thousand years ago there was dry land between England and France. So even today nowhere in the Channel is much more than one hundred feet deep (even with rising sea levels due to global warming it would not be much more than 150 feet). And many dams are higher than that. So could the Channel be reclaimed like much of the Netherlands? Perhaps it could be used for overspill housing for London as well as transport.

Presumably one could provide a ship canal. Also discharge facilities for the nuclear reactors at Gravelines and Dungeness.

As well as technical feasibility (I would like to know details of how the damming would be done) perhaps your answer could consider:-
1. How long the engineering would take.
2. What might the cost be.
3. What could the environmental effects be.

P.S. I enquired about the possibility. Whether it would be desirable - some of you appear to have strong views and I am interested to get them - is another matter to which I did not intend to commit myself in this question.

Answer 1

What a totally unfeasible idea! Block off the English Channel, The North Sea and all the rivers that run into it from both sides - I suppose you could put all the illegals to work on it - at least that would keep them occupied for the next few centuries.

Answer 2

Britain is an Island Nation, and we're proud of it. We wouldn't want a land-link to Europe, the Channel Tunnel's bad enough for letting illegal immigrants into the UK.

The English Channel saved us from invasion from The Axis during WW2. if it wasn't for the Channel, Hitler would have rolled his Panzers across to Britain with ease. The English Channel acted as a very difficult obstacle for The Axis forces to cross. Wargames have been played, and the English Channel would have saved us in the War, even if we were invaded, as the heavy tanks would not be able to land on the initial invading force. Enemy fighters were only able to fly over Britain for about 20 mins before having to turn around for lack of fuel, too, making it easier for us to down the Bombers.

In Geographical terms, Scotland is rising from the sea, due to the ice from the Ice age melting, and the south is sinking, so reclaiming the English Channel would be even more difficult to accomplish. Reclaiming the Scottish coast would be easier to do because of this.

Besides, we don't want to get any closer to France.

Answer 3

You are talking about building a coffer dam over twenty miles long, and who knows how deep. What are the strength of the currents through the Channel? But to answer your three questions:

1. Decades
2. Astronomical
3. Two destroyed sections of coastline

Answer 4

You've overlooked the major problem of the rivers which currently empty into the Channel - the Seine through Paris, for one, and the Itchen at Southampton, and probably several more. Their water would still have to go somewhere, and I think that would take more engineering than your two dams.

Answer 5

Interesting idea.

We are an island nation and it has shaped our history and flora and fauna. I wouldn't like to lose that.

I know you mentioned a canal - but the channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes - a canal would never cope and sending the shipping around the Scottish and Irish coasts would be far too dangerous.

Answer 6

what is now britian was connected to what is now holland, and it was before the last ice age whic is a little more than a few thousand years ago.
you would need somewhere to put all the water and a big wall to stop the north sea filling it in

Answer 7

You'll need a team of engineers to give you serious answers to your three specific questions.

Answer 8

You have to pay me for my answer! Hydro engineering!

Answer 9

all the imigrants would walk over then. what a stupid idea