Ottoman Empire, H2/1902

[The Rock Doctor]

Ottoman Empire, H2/1902

A.  GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY

Region	Capital	Population (M)	IC	BP	$ (Pop)	$ (IC)	$ (Total)	R&D Capacity
Maghreb	Tripoli	2.501	0	0	$0.25	$0.00	$0.25	$0.00
Egypt/Sudan/Eritrea	Cairo	9.438	4	1	$0.94	$8.00	$8.94	$0.00
--Cairo	N/A	1.025	2	0	$0.10	$3.03	$3.13	$0.98
Bahr el-Ghazal Territory	N/A	0.134	0	0	$0.01	$0.00	$0.01	$0.00
Levant	Beirut	2.786	4	1	$0.29	$6.85	$7.14	$1.14
Arabia	Jiddah	3.278	1	0	$0.33	$2.00	$2.33	$0.00
Mesopotamia	Baghdad	2.383	1	0	$0.24	$2.00	$2.24	$0.00
Anatolia	Constantinople	11.452	5	2	$1.15	$10.00	$11.15	$0.00
--Constantinople	N/A	1.020	4	2	$0.10	$4.040	$4.14	$2.98
Rumelia	Sofya	16.093	4	3	$1.61	$8.00	$9.61	$0.00
TOTALS		50.109	25	9	$5.02	$43.92	$48.94	$5.10

Note 1:  Maghreb includes 0.061 M people added due to annexation of Barqa in 1901
Note 2:  Bahr el Ghazal currently consists of OTL south Sudan's North and Western Bahr el Ghazal and part of Warrap.
Note 3:  Includes four new IC per Mod ruling.  Distributed to Egypt (2), Rumelia (Macedonia), and Constantinople.

Additional Revenues:
--None.

Status:  Mostly peace, with a bit of a dust-up in Africa.

Maximum Military Budget:  $24.47

B.  Naval Operations

Naval & Coastal Defence Maintenance:  $4.39 (~50% active; large/medium installations active; several riverboats mobilized)

Ongoing Construction:
--None.

New Construction:
--TB T-75, laid down at Constantinople S0A, receives $0.52 and 0.414 BP, completed 11/02
--TB T-76, laid down at Iskendurun S0A, receives $0.52 and 0.414 BP, completed 11/02
--RGB R-34, laid down at Alexandria S1A, receives $0.50 and 0.499 BP, completed 11/02
--Submarine S-7, laid down at Alexandria S0A, receives $0.31 and 0.250 BP, completed 11/02
--Submarine S-8, laid down at Alexandria S0B, receives $0.31 and 0.250 BP, completed 11/02
--Upgrade Derres Battery from Small to Large:  $3.6 and 3.60 BP, to complete 6/03
--Upgrade Souda Battery from Small to Medium:  $1.08 and 1.08 BP, to complete 6/03
--Upgrade Tobruk Battery from Small to Medium:  $1.08 and 1.08 BP, to complete 6/03
--Cost correction for previously built submarines:  $1.01

C.  Army Operations

Army Maintenance:  $2.86 (Five corps at "Active", with limited mobilization)
--2/13 Cavalry:  Nile Expedition
--5/13 Cavalry:  Nile Expedition
--4/5 Infantry:   Nile Expedition
--5/5 Infantry:  Nile Expedition

New Activities:
--Raise 1st Independent Sahara Brigade (1895 Specialist - Camel Cavalry):  $1.80 and 0.080 BP

D.  Aeronautical Operations

Nothing to see here.

E.  Military Infrastructure Construction and Repair

Ongoing Activities:
--Nothing of note.

New Activities:
--Inland port P0 commenced at Malakal:  $1.96, 0.500 BP, construction ongoing.

F.  Research and Development

Maximum Budget:  $4.10

Projects:
--Continue 1900 Armor:  H4/?, $0.95, ongoing:  Failed Roll
--Continue 210mm/45 cal:  H4/4, $0.25, done (Free turret = twin)
--Continue 280mm/45 cal:  H3/4, $0.50, ongoing
--Continue 150mm/45 cal:  H3/4, $0.25, ongoing
--Commence 1902 BB/AC Architecture:  H2/?, $1.00, ongoing
--Commence 1902 Naval Propulsion:  H2/?, $1.00, ongoing

G.  Intelligence and Black Operations

Budget:  $0.20

Activities:
--Generally monitoring the neighbourhood.

H.  Civlian Economic Development

Projects:
--Build IC in Maghreb (Railways & Electrification):  $10.00 for $10.00 of $10.00 required, done.
--Build IC in Rumelia (Albania - Railways & Electrification):  $10.00 for $10.00 of $10.00 required, done.
--Continue IC at Egypt (Little Aswan Dam & Assuit Barrage):  $1.50 for $6.00 of $10.00 requred, ongoing.
--Continue IC at Egypt (Sudanese railway extensions):  $1.68 for $3.11 of $10.00 required, ongoing
--Continue co-funded IC in Ethiopia (Railway to Massawa):  $0.50 for $1.50 of $5.00 required, ongoing 
--Commence IC at Mesopotamia (Petroleum exploration):  $0.50 for $0.50 of $10.00 required, ongoing
--Supplies, infrastructure, and bribes/gifts to for Nile expeditions:  $0.10
--Continue establishing basic governance over Barqa:  $0.06 for $0.12 of $0.60 required, ongoing
--Continue establishing basic governance over South Sudan:  $0.13 for $0.26 of $1.30 required, ongoing


I.  Carry-overs

$ (military):  $0.00
$ (civilian):  $0.00
BP:  0.000

I.  Naval Order of Battle, End of Half

Note:  X(Y) + Z where X is in service, Y refitting or repairing, and Z is under construction.

Battleships (BB):  6(0) + 0
Coastal Defence Battleships (CB):  6(0) + 0
Armored Cruisers (AC):  4(0) + 0
Protected Cruisers (PC):  20(0) + 0
Torpedo Boats (TB):  76(0) + 0
Submarines (SS):  8(0) + 0

Gunboats (GB):  14(0) + 0
River Gunboats (RGB):  33(0) + 0
Patrol Boats (PB):  46(0) + 0

Transports (AP):  13(0) + 0
Troop Ferry (APF):  2(0) + 0
Tugs, Harbour (ATH):  14(0) + 0
Tugs,  Salvage (ATS):  5(0) + 0
Colliers (AK):  6(0) + 0
Survey Ships (AS):  4(0) + 0
Hospital Ships (AH):  1(0) + 0
Yachts (AY):  1(0) + 0

[The Rock Doctor]

Note that the "Bosphourus Bridge" project is tentative.  I'm doing some research to determine whether such an enterprise can be engineered in 1902.

[The Rock Doctor]

Never mind.  Changed it to petroleum exploration in Mesopotamia.

[Walter]

Even though you changed it, this bridge might have been your solution to a bridge across the Bosporus...


The Bosporus Bridge (1970-1973) is 1,074 m long.

The Bosporus Strait's narrowest point is 700 m between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan, roughly halfway between the Bosporus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.

If Google maps works right, the link will get you to the area with both existing bridges at the top and bottom of the map and the narrowest bit in the center (though that all probably depends on your screen's resolution)...

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0676887,29.0506622,14z

Depth of the Bosporus varies from 13 to 110 m. Off Aşiyan Point it is 13 m. It'll drop off the further you go away from that area towards the other side of the Strait (though I do not know how much) but that bit might make it more easy to bridge the gap.


The Forth Bridge (1882-1890) is 2,528.7m, two main spans of 521.3 m, two side spans of 207.3 m, and 15 approach spans of 51.2 m. Firth of Forth depth at the points of the Caissons is 28 m.


Looking at that, I would think that using two towers instead of the Forth Bridge's three, you could make a crossing the Bosporus at Kandilli. Considering that this is an alternate world, I think you could pay a bit with the situation and make the depths near the shores at that point shallow enough so it is possible to cross that part with a bridge like the Forth Bridge. Just remember that the clearance of the Forth Bridge is 46 m. If you get taller ships, you will have to replace it.  :P


I actually have looked at the Forth Bridge as an example for a bridge to cross the Yangtze River near Shanghai for a railroad north to Beijing but damn that river's wide there! If I were to move the crossing a bit (~70km) to the west-northwest at Majianong (where the 8206 meter long Sutong Yangtze River Bridge (2003-2008) is located), I would still have to cross over 5000 meters of water which is 7 times wider than the narrowest point of the Bosporus. :o

Some additional useless info: Forth Bridge used 54,000t of steel, 20,950 cubic metres of granite, 6,780 cubic metres of stone, 49,200 cubic metres of concrete, 50t of cement and seven million rivets. A bridge across the Bosporus would be shorter and thus need less materials, but it would still be about 60-70% of the above mentioned materials that would be needed. Guess it's probably a good thing that you do not have to pay for that with your BPs. :)

The Forth Bridge cost about £2.5m. Assuming that that was in 1890, it would roughly be $13 for the purpose of the sim so you should be okay with the cost of 1 IC to cover your bridge (with the remaining bits of money being spend on a bit of infrastructure leading to the bridge).

[The Rock Doctor]

Yeah, I was looking at the Forth Bridge as part of my reading yesterday.  There's a spot about four kilometres north of the spot you note, up by "Bolgaz Hatti" where the bathymetry shows the channel depth to be shallower than usual.  I've had the thought that a cantilever bridge might be feasible there.  The length would be longer than where you propose, but building and sinking caissons for the towers would be less difficult there.

Cantilever or suspension, it still makes for a central span that's significantly larger than anything historical at that time.  It's something I'll keep thinking on - I can see that there will be a constant series of these "slow IC" projects as I find myself with a buck here and a buck there each half-year.

As for your project - maybe a lower viaduct with a central arch/swing/whatever for large traffic?  Depends on how deep the Yangtze is, and how much of a problem the floods can be...

[The Rock Doctor]

Here's the location I have in mind.

The two diamonds mark towers.  They obscure specific soundings - 23 and 24 m (I assume), which are depths comparable with the Firth of Forth for caisson-construction purposes.  The distance between towers, which I've approximated from a Google Earth screen grab, would be around 450 - 500 m, which is broadly comparable with the Forth Bridge.  Additional towers could be sunk/built closer to shore to support the lesser spans.

The shipping channel would need to shift a bit, but that's fine, and bridge clearance can certainly be higher than the Forth Bridge.

That actually seems feasible.  Maybe this will happen after all...

[Kaiser Kirk]

Did the London Underground go under the Thames already?
Would that be cheaper and less interactive with ships?

[The Rock Doctor]

Good question; I don't know (yet).

[Walter]

Looking at it... yes. The City and South London Railway ("the first deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world") went under the Thames.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_and_South_London_Railway
Should be noted that the deepest station of the London Underground is Hampstead tube station (58.5 metres/192 feet) which was opened on 22 June 1907. Not sure how deeps you would need to be below the bottom of the Bosporus, but the wiki entry for the Waterloo & City line indicates "Under the Thames the top of the tube is 23 feet (7.0 m) below the bed of the river." Considering that the Bosporus is much deeper than the Thames, you're probably looking at a tunnel of probably over 70 meters deep at that point where Rocky plans to cross the Strait. I think that a bridge might be cheaper than a tunnel that deep.