Glenn Miller and Bering Strait crossing: Difference between pages

Coordinates: 65°47′N 169°01′W / 65.783°N 169.017°W / 65.783; -169.017
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[[Image:BeringBridge.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Possible route of Intercontinental Peace Bridge across the Bering Strait.]]
{{Otheruses4|the jazz musician|the college basketball coach|Glen Miller (basketball coach)}}
[[Image:US NOAA nautical chart of Bering Strait.png|thumb|250px|right|Nautical map of Bering strait. Depth in meters.]]
{{Infobox musical artist | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
The '''Bering Strait bridge''' or '''Bering Strait tunnel''', if ever constructed, would be a [[bridge]] or [[tunnel]] spanning the [[Bering Strait]] between [[Cape Dezhnev]], [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]], [[Russia]], and [[Cape Prince of Wales]], [[Alaska]], [[United States]]. The name '''The Intercontinental Peace Bridge''' has been used in some proposals. Another name suggested is '''Eurasia-America Transport Link'''.<ref>[http://www.mperussia.com/bering_conf_prog_e.html A Transcontinental Eurasia-America Transport Link via the Bering Strait], at the 1st International Conference "Megaprojects of the Russian East"
| Name = Glenn Miller
</ref> Whatever the name, the construction of such a bridge or tunnel would face unprecedented engineering, political, and financial challenges, and to date, no government has authorized the start of any planning or construction.
| Img = glen_miller.jpg
| Img_capt = Major Glenn Miller
| Img_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220 pixels -->
| Landscape =
| Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| Birth_name = Alton Glenn Miller
| Alias =
| Born = {{birth date|1904|3|1|mf=y}}<br/><small> [[Clarinda, Iowa|Clarinda]], [[Iowa]], [[United States|U.S.]]<small>
| Died = circa {{death date and age|1944|12|15|1904|3|1}}<br/><small> [[English Channel]](presumably)<small>
| Origin =
| Instrument = [[Trombone]]
| Genre = [[Swing music]]<br>[[Big band]]
| Occupation = [[Bandleader]]
| Years_active = 1923–1944
| Label =
| Associated_acts = [[Glenn Miller Orchestra]]
| URL =
| Current_members =
| Past_members =
| Notable_instruments =
| Labels = [[Decca]]<br>[[Columbia]]<br>[[RCA-Victor Bluebird]]
}}


A Bering Strait bridge or tunnel would provide an overland connection linking [[Asia]], [[Africa]] and [[Europe]] with [[North America]] and [[South America]]. The Bering Strait could be spanned by a series of three bridges via the [[Diomede Islands]] for a total distance of about 80 km (50 miles). The two long spans would each be comparable in length to the [[Lake Pontchartrain Causeway]], currently the [[List of bridges by length|second-longest bridge]] in the world. However, the most recent proposal calls for construction of a tunnel.
'''Alton Glenn Miller''' ([[March 1]] [[1904]]&ndash;[[Death in absentia|presumably]] [[December 15]] [[1944]]), was an [[United States|American]] [[jazz]] musician and [[band leader]] in the [[Swing (genre)|swing]] era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942, leading one of the best known "[[Big band|Big Bands]]". Miller's signature recordings include, "[[In the Mood]]", "[[Tuxedo Junction]]", "[[Chattanooga Choo Choo]]", "[[Moonlight Serenade (song)|Moonlight Serenade]]", "[[Little Brown Jug (song)|Little Brown Jug]]", and "[[Pennsylvania 6-5000]]".<ref>[http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/history.html <!-- bot-generated title -->] at www.glennmillerorchestra.com</ref> While travelling to entertain U.S. troops in [[France]] during [[World War II]], Miller's plane [[Missing person|disappeared]] in bad weather. His body was never found.


==History==
==Early life and career==
The concept of an overland connection crossing the [[Bering Strait]] goes back at least before the 20th century. [[William Gilpin (governor)|William Gilpin]], first governor of the [[Colorado Territory]], envisioned a vast "[[Cosmopolitan Railway]]" in 1890 linking the entire world via a series of railways. Two years later [[Joseph Strauss]], who went on to design over 400 bridges, including the [[Golden Gate Bridge]], put forward the first proposal for a Bering Strait railroad bridge in his senior thesis<ref>Kevin Starr. ''Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California'', 330. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0195100808</ref>. The project was presented to the government of the [[Russian Empire]], but it was rejected.<ref>[http://www.segodnya.ru/w3s.nsf/Archive/2001_2_econom_vrez_noname1.html An excerpt from memoirs] of the [[Heads of military of Imperial Russia|Russian Empire Minister of Land Forces]] [[Aleksandr Rediger]] {{ru icon}}</ref>
Glenn Miller was born in [[Clarinda, Iowa]] on [[March 1]] [[1904]], the son of Mattie Lou ([[married and maiden names|née]] Cavender) and Lewis Elmer Miller.<ref>[http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=732 The Free Information Society: Glenn Miller Biography]</ref><ref>[http://www.glennmiller.org/history.htm Glenn Miller History<!-- title -->]</ref> He went to grade school in [[North Platte, Nebraska]]. In 1915, Miller's family moved to [[Grant City, Missouri]]. Around this time, Miller was given his first trombone and then played in the town orchestra. In 1918, the Miller family moved again, this time to [[Fort Morgan, Colorado]] where Glenn went to high school. During his senior year, Miller became very interested in a new style of music called "dance band music". Miller enjoyed this music so much that he and some classmates decided to start their own band. By the time Miller graduated from high school in 1921, he had decided he wanted to become a professional musician.<ref name=millerhistory>[http://www.glennmiller.org/history.htm Glennmiller.org]</ref>


Interest was renewed in 1943 with the completion of the [[Alaska Highway]] linking the remote territory of Alaska with the [[Continental United States]]. Ambitious Alaskans envisioned the highway continuing to link with [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]] near the Bering Strait, but no serious proposals for a bridge were made.
In 1923, Miller entered the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]] where he joined [[Sigma Nu]] Fraternity,<ref>[http://oregonstate.edu/groups/sigmanu/about/famous-sigma-nu/ Famous Sigma Nu’s]</ref> but spent most of his time away from school, attending auditions and playing any gigs he could get, most notably with Boyd Senter's band in [[Denver]]. He dropped out of school after failing three out of five classes one semester, and decided to concentrate on making a career as a professional [[musician]]. He later studied the [[Schillinger System|Schillinger technique]] with Joseph Schillinger,<ref>[http://www.theschillingerschoolofmusic.org/biog.php The Schillinger School of Music]</ref> who is credited with helping Miller create the "Miller sound", and under whose tutelage he himself composed what became his signature theme, "[[Moonlight Serenade (song)|Moonlight Serenade]]."<ref>[http://www.schillingersystem.com/whois.htm Who Is Joseph Schillinger?]</ref>


In 1968 engineer [[T. Y. Lin]] made a feasibility study of a Bering Strait bridge and estimated a cost more than $4 billion. Like Gilpin, Lin envisioned the project as a symbol of international cooperation and unity. Lin also proposed, among other bridges, a second massive connection spanning the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]. During the [[Cold War]], however, the concept met mostly with cool reception. Lin died in 2003.
In 1926, Miller toured with several groups and landed a good spot in [[Ben Pollack]]'s group in [[Los Angeles]]. During his stint with Pollack, Miller had the opportunity to write several musical arrangements of his own. In 1928, when the band arrived in [[New York City]], he sent for and married his college sweetheart, Helen Burger. He was a member of [[Red Nichols]]’s orchestra in 1930, and because of Nichols, played in the pit bands of two [[Broadway theatre|Broadway shows]], ''[[Strike Up the Band]]'' and ''[[Girl Crazy]]'', his bandmates included [[Benny Goodman]] and [[Gene Krupa]]. "The consensus there was that Miller was no more than an average trombonist."<ref>[http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?iA=4&artist=6763 Sony/BMG Glenn Miller Biography]</ref> Despite this, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, Miller managed to earn a living working as a freelance trombonist in several bands. In November of 1929, an original vocalist named Red McKenzie hired Glenn to play on two records that are now considered to be jazz classics: "Hello, Lola" and "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight". "Not only were [the two songs Miller recorded] considered major musical items, but they also represented one of the major breakthroughs in blacks and whites playing together." Besides Glenn were clarinetist [[Pee Wee Russell]], guitarist [[Eddie Condon]], drummer [[Gene Krupa]] and [[Coleman Hawkins]] on tenor saxophone.<ref>[http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html ''Who was Glenn Miller?'' Jazzsight Profiles]</ref>


Several others have advocated a Bering Strait bridge including Russian railway engineer [[Anatoly Cherkasov]] soon after the end of the Cold War.
In the mid-1930s, Miller also worked as a trombonist and arranger in [[The Dorsey Brothers]] ill-fated co-led orchestra.<ref>Simon, George T., ''Glenn Miller and His Orchestra'', De Capo Press, 1980. ISBN 0-306-80129-9. pages 65-6</ref> Miller composed the song Annie's Cousin Fanny and Dese Dem Dose for the Dorsey Brothers Band in 1934 and 1935. In 1935, he assembled an American orchestra for British bandleader [[Ray Noble]],<ref>Simon, 66</ref> developing the arrangement of lead [[clarinet]] over four [[saxophone]]s that eventually became the sonic keynote of his own big band. Members of the Noble band included future bandleader Claude Thornhill, Bud Freeman and Charlie Spivak.<ref name=albertsonc>Albertson, Chris, ''Major Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Band, 1943-1944'', Bluebird/RCA, 1987. Liner notes</ref>


==Challenges==
Glenn Miller compiled several [[musical arrangement]]s before forming his first band in 1937. The band failed to distinguish itself from the many others of the era, and eventually broke up. [[Benny Goodman]] said in 1976, "In late 1937, before his band became popular, we were both playing in [[Dallas]]. Glenn was pretty dejected and came to see me. He asked, 'What do you do? How do you make it?' I said, 'I don't know, Glenn. You just stay with it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tuxjunction.net/glennmiller.htm |title=Music in the Miller Mood|author= Spink, George}}</ref>
===Technical challenges===


The route would lie just south of the [[Arctic Circle]], subject to long, dark winters and extreme weather (average winter lows −20°C with possible lows approaching −50°C). Maintenance of any exposed roadway would be difficult and closures frequent. Even maintenance of enclosed roadways and pipelines could also be affected by winter weather. Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers. Specially shaped massive piers along the ocean floor would be needed to keep the bridge stable. The [[Confederation Bridge]] between [[Prince Edward Island]] and [[New Brunswick]] addresses similar concerns on a much smaller scale.
==Success from 1938 to 1942==
Discouraged, Miller returned to [[New York]]. He realized that he needed to develop a unique sound, and decided to make the [[clarinet]] play a melodic line with a [[tenor saxophone]] on the same note, with three other saxophones harmonized within a single octave. George Simon discovered a saxophonist named Wilbur Schwartz for Glenn Miller. Miller hired Schwartz, but instead had him play the lead clarinet. "Willie's tone and way of playing provided a fullness and richness so distinctive that none of the later Miller imitators could ever accurately reproduce the Miller sound." With this new sound combination, the Miller band found success. Miller was not the first to try this style, but he was the most successful at refining it and making it key to almost his entire repertoire.


The bridge would require thousands of kilometers of new road and/or track over extremely harsh terrain through the wilderness of Alaska and Siberia. The nearest [[railhead]]s are [[Fairbanks, Alaska]] or [[Jackson, British Columbia]] on the [[Dease Lake, British Columbia|Dease Lake]] branch of [[Canadian National]] on the North American side and [[Yakutsk]] on the Russian side. Russia is in the process of completing a rail connection from the [[Baikal Amur Mainline]] to Yakutsk. This may prove to be less of a problem, with a binational study going on to see if a rail link from Jackson, BC and Dease Lake, BC or [[Fort St. John, British Columbia|Fort St. John, BC]] to Fairbanks, Alaska (via [[Whitehorse, Yukon]]) is feasible <ref>[http://www.alaskacanadarail.org AlaskaCanadaRail.org]</ref>.
In September 1938, the Miller band began making recordings for the [[RCA Victor]] [[Bluebird Records]] subsidiary.<ref>Simon, page 143</ref> In the spring of 1939, the band's fortunes improved with a date at the Meadowbrook Ballroom in [[Cedar Grove, New Jersey]], and more dramatically at the Glen Island Casino in [[New Rochelle, New York]]. With the Glen Island date, the band began a huge rise in popularity.<ref>Simon, page 170</ref> In 1939, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine noted: "Of the twelve to 24 discs in each of today's 300,000 U.S. jukeboxes, from two to six are usually Glenn Miller's."<ref>{{cite news | title =New King | publisher =''Time Magazine'' | date= 1939-11-27| url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,762896,00.html}}</ref> There were record-breaking recordings such as "Tuxedo Junction", which sold 115,000 copies in the first week.<ref>[http://glennmillerorchestra.com/ Glennmillerorchestra.com]</ref> Nineteen thirty-nine's huge success culminated with the Miller band in concert at [[Carnegie Hall]] on [[October 6]], with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Fred Waring also the main attractions.<ref>Simon, page 91</ref>
From 1939 to 1942, Miller's band was featured three times a week during a broadcast for [[Chesterfield cigarettes]].<ref>Simon, pages 197, 314</ref> On [[February 10]] [[1942]], RCA Victor presented Miller with the first [[gold record]] for "[[Chattanooga Choo-Choo]]".<ref>Miller, Glenn, ''A Legendary Performer'', RCA, 1939/1991</ref> "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was performed by the Miller orchestra with his singers Gordon "Tex" Beneke, Paula Kelly and the vocal group, the Modernaires.<ref>[http://www.themodernaires.com/bio.html Band Bio - The Modernaires<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Other singers with this orchestra included Marion Hutton,<ref>{{cite news
|author=
|title=Marion Hutton, 67, Vocalist With Glenn Miller Orchestra
|date=1987-01-12
|work=[[New York Times]]
|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFDA1338F931A25752C0A961948260
|accessdate=2008-08-10
}}</ref> Skip Nelson,<ref>[http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Glenn-Miller/Biography.aspx Glenn Miller » Biography | Legacy Recordings<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Ray Eberle<ref>[http://rayeberle.com/ Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and to a smaller extent, Kay Starr,<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/~Kay_Starr/biography.html Kay Starr Biography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Ernie Caceres,<ref>[http://landing.com/profiles/caceres.htm Ernie Caceres<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Dorothy Claire<ref>[http://www.parabrisas.com/d_claired.php Solid! - Dorothy Claire<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and Jack Lathrop.<ref>[http://members.mailaka.net/bill/M.html M<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


The United States and Canada use American [[standard gauge]] (4 feet, 8.5 inches wide) rails, while Russia uses [[Russian gauge|Russian broad gauge]] (5 feet wide) tracks, a [[break-of-gauge]], and this would have to be addressed. A [[dual-gauge]] track network has been proposed, as those are used in some areas of [[Rail transport in Australia|Australia]], whose rail network is split into different gauges. A cheaper solution is [[variable gauge axles]] or [[bogie exchange]], as used at several places in the world already.
In 2004, Glenn Miller orchestra bassist Herman "Trigger" Alpert explained the band's success: "Miller had America's music pulse.[...] He knew what would please the listeners."<ref name=bigbandlibrary>[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/glennmiller.html Big Band Library: Glenn Miller: "A Memorial, 1944-2004"]</ref> Although Miller had massive popularity, many jazz critics of the time had their misgivings, believing that the band's endless rehearsals and "letter-perfect playing" diminished excitement and feeling from performances.<ref>Simon, page 241</ref> They also felt that Miller's brand of swing shifted popular music away from the "hot" jazz bands of Benny Goodman and [[Count Basie]] towards commercial novelty instrumentals and vocal numbers. Miller was often criticized for being too commercial. His answer to the criticism was, "I don't want a jazz band".<ref name=albertsonc /> Many modern jazz critics still harbour similar antipathy toward Miller.<ref name=giddinsg>Giddins, Gary, [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/31/040531crmu_music "Stride and Swing: The Enduring Appeal of Fats Waller and Glenn Miller."], [[The New Yorker]], [[May 24]] [[2004]]. Retrieved on [[September 14]] [[2007]]</ref> In an article written by Gary Giddins for ''The New Yorker'' in 2004, Giddins felt that these early critics erred in denigrating Glenn Miller's music, and that the popular opinion of the time should hold greater sway. The article states: "Miller exuded little warmth on or off the bandstand, but once the band struck up its theme, audiences were done for: throats clutched, eyes softened. Can any other record match "Moonlight Serenade" for its ability to induce a Pavlovian slaver in so many for so long?"<ref name=giddinsg /> Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme held the orchestra in high regard; Torme even credited Miller with giving him helpful advice when he first started his singing career in the nineteen-forties.
Miller and his band appeared in two [[Hollywood]] films, [[1941 in film|1941's]], ''[[Sun Valley Serenade]]'' and [[1942 in film|1942's]] ''[[Orchestra Wives]]'', the latter featuring [[Jackie Gleason]] playing a part as the group's bassist. Miller insisted on a believable script before he'd go before [[Twentieth-Century Fox]] cameras. Miller also demanded that the band become an integral part of the story and not just be thrown into some inconsequential scene. He had achieved star status and he was now demanding and getting star treatment.<ref>Simon, pages 253, 295</ref>


===Environmental opposition===
== The Army Air Force Band 1942-1944==
[[Image:GlennMillerBustBedford.JPG|right|thumb|[[Bust (sculpture)|Bust]] outside the Corn Exchange in [[Bedford]], where Miller played in [[World War II]].]]
In 1942, at the peak of his civilian career, Miller decided he could better serve those in uniform by joining the war effort. At 38 years old, Miller was too old to be drafted, and first volunteered for the [[United States Navy|Navy]] but was told that they did not need his services. [Simon 309-310] Miller then wrote to Army Brigadier General Charles Young on [[August 12]] 1942. Miller persuaded the [[United States Army Air Forces]] to accept him so he could in his own words, "be placed in charge of a modernized army band." After being accepted in the Army, Glenn’s civilian band played their last concert in [[Passaic, New Jersey]] on [[September 27]] [[1942]].<ref name=millerhistory />


Both the Alaskan and Siberian wilderness areas are the focus of major conservation efforts. Access roads would cross thousands of kilometers of these areas. The bridge itself would cross a major whale migration route, as well the world's largest [[King Crab]] migration route.
Captain Glenn Miller served initially as assistant special services officer for the Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center at [[Maxwell Air Force Base|Maxwell Field]], [[Montgomery, Alabama]], in December 1942. He played trombone with the Rhythmaires, a 15-piece dance band, in both Mongtomery and in service clubs and recreation halls on Maxwell. Miller also appeared on both [[WAPI (AM)|WAPI]] ([[Birmingham, Alabama]]) and [[WSFA|WSFA radio]] (Montgomery), promoting the activities of civil service women aircraft mechanics employed at Maxwell. Miller began a weekly radio broadcast in June 1943 in New York City whose success as a recruiting asset led to permission for Miller to form his 50-piece Army Air Force Band and take it to England in the summer of 1944, where he gave 800 performances.<ref>[http://aupress.au.af.mil/Books/Benton/Benton.pdf Benton, Jeffrey C. (1999). ''They Served Here: Thirty-Three Maxwell Men''], "Glenn Miller", pp.37-38. Air University Press.</ref>


Similar concerns have arisen over the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System|Trans-Alaska Pipeline]] and oil and natural gas drilling on the [[Alaska North Slope]], which remains highly controversial: if any problems occur during the building of the bridge, or oil or natural gas is spilled into the strait, the natural environment could be devastated.
He initially formed a large marching band that was to be the core of a network of service orchestras, but his attempts at modernizing military music were met with some resistance from tradition-minded career officers. An example is the arrangement of "St. Louis Blues March", combining blues and jazz with the traditional military march. This was recorded on [[October 29]] [[1943]] at the Victor studios in New York City.<ref name=bestof>Miller, Glenn, ''The Best of Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Band'', RCA, 1987.</ref> Miller's striking innovations and his adaptations of Sousa marches for the AAF band prompted ''Time'' magazine to claim that he had rankled traditionalists in the field of Army music and had desecrated the March King. The magazine also criticized Miller's injection of casual enjoyment into the disciplined cadences of military music, stating that the Army was 'swinging its hips instead of its feet.'"<ref name=stripes>[http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/museum/Archive_Stars_Part%201.html War Two: The Stars Wore Stripes]</ref> But by the time of Miller's death, opinion had changed. General Jimmy Doolittle<ref>[http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/doolittle/EX18.htm James H. "Jimmie" Doolittle - Outstanding Man of Aviation<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> said, “[...]next to a letter from home, that organization was the greatest morale builder in the European Theater of Operations.”<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.airmenofnote.com/history/Introduction.htm Introduction, Background & Origins<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


There have been long discussions about a highway for the benefit of residents in western Alaska, but environmental concerns and fears of undue cultural influence from a higher number of visitors to [[Eskimo]] villages have obstructed these plans{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
==Disappearance==
[[Image:GlennMillerMonumentGroveStCemeteryNewHavenCT04152008.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Miller's monument in [[Grove Street Cemetery]], [[New Haven, Connecticut]]]]
On [[December 15]], [[1944]], Miller, now a [[Major (United States)|major]], was to fly from the United Kingdom to [[Paris]], [[France]], to play for the soldiers who recently had [[Liberation of Paris|liberated Paris]]. His plane departed from [[RAF Twinwood Farm]], in [[Clapham, Bedfordshire|Clapham]], [[Bedfordshire]], but disappeared over the [[English Channel]].<ref>Butcher, pages 203-205</ref> Miller's remains and the wreckage of the plane (a single-engine [[Noorduyn Norseman|UC-64 Norseman]], USAAF serial 44-70285) have never been found.


==Economic costs and benefits==
Since Miller's disappearance more than sixty years ago, there have been many theories about what happened. Buddy DeFranco, one of the leaders of the post-war Glenn Miller orchestra, told biographer [[George T. Simon]] of the many theories of Miller's disappearance that were told to him while he was leading the band in the 1970s. DeFranco said "If I were to believe all those stories, there would have been about twelve thousand four hundred and fifty eight people there at the field in England seeing him off on that last flight!"<ref>Simon, page 446</ref>


Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering estimates the cost of a highway, double track rail and pipelines, at $105 billion, five times the cost of the [[Channel Tunnel]]. This excludes the cost of new roads and railways to reach the bridge.<ref>[http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/beringstrait/interactive/interactive.html Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering]</ref>
Miller's plane may have been bombed accidentally by [[Royal Air Force]] aircraft over the [[English Channel]] after an abortive air raid on [[Siegen]], [[Germany]]. One hundred and thirty-eight Lancaster bombers, short on fuel, jettisoned approximately 100,000 incendiaries in a designated area before landing, per standing orders.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2654822 The Mysterious Disappearance of Glenn Miller]</ref> The logbooks of Royal Air Force navigator Fred Shaw recorded that he saw a small single-engined monoplane spiralling out of control and crashed into the water. If this was indeed Miller's plane, the RAF crews were not culpable for the plane carrying Miller straying off course into their designated drop area. However, a second source, while acknowledging the possibility, casts doubt on the version, citing other RAF crew members flying the same mission who state the drop area was in the North Sea, a more likely location.<ref>[http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/filmnotes/glennmillerstory.html The Glenn Miller Story]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mboss.force9.co.uk/twinwood/roth/index.htm|title=The Glenn Miller Mystery|author= Roth, Howard}}</ref>


A lower estimate for just a road bridge is $15-25 billion, based on the price per mile of other bridges, like the [[Confederation Bridge]] which cost US$180 million per mile. The Discovery Channel proposal contains several extremely long suspension spans, while the Confederation Bridge is a pure concrete bridge. The water is not so deep (average 100-150 ft) and the boat traffic not so dense as to require very long suspension spans (as opposed to the [[Strait of Messina Bridge]] or the [[Gibraltar Bridge]]).
Miller's surname resides on the 'Wall of Missing' at the [[Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial]]. A monument stone was also placed in [[Grove Street Cemetery]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut]] next to the campus of [[Yale University]].


The cost for the connections would be high also. Alone, a road to the [[Fairbanks]] area, about 700 miles, would cost at least $6 billion. The distances on the Russian side are larger than that. A railway would have to be much longer, and cost much more money. These costs must be justified inside each country, like linking Alaska with the rest of the USA, and linking western Alaska with the rest of Alaska. The bridge itself is hard enough to finance.
==Civilian Band Legacy==
The Miller estate authorized an official Glenn Miller "ghost band" in 1946. This band was led by [[Tex Beneke]], former lead saxophonist and singer for the civilian band. It had a make up similar to the Army Air Force Band: it had a large string section.<ref>Simon, pages 437-39</ref> The orchestra's official public début was at the Capitol Theatre on Broadway where it opened for a three week engagement on [[January 24]], 1946.<ref>Butcher, page 262</ref> Henry Mancini was the band's pianist and one of the arrangers.<ref>[http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=9018 Henry Mancini at All About Jazz<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This ghost band played to very large audiences all across the United States, including a few dates at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] in 1947, where the original Miller band played in 1941.<ref>Simon, page 258</ref> Even as the big band era faded, the Tex Beneke and Glenn Miller Orchestra concert at the Palladium resulted in a record-breaking crowd of 6,750 dancers.<ref>[http://www.yehoodi.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=77180&highlight=&sid=8acca781834407e8c3d213a4b68874b8 Yehoodi.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> By 1949, economics dictated that the string section be dropped.<ref name="autogenerated4">Butcher, page 263</ref>


The Bering Strait area is extremely remote and sparsely populated. Air is the main mode of travel in the area, and across the strait there are very few chartered flights by small private airlines such as [[Bering Air]], located in Nome. There is no existing car or [[rail ferry]] service as there are no roads or railways for it to serve. So far, tourism in [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]] is hindered by the international border controls and [[visa]] requirements. In Russia, a special visit permit is required because of military restrictions; this must be lifted for significant volumes of travel by air or boat to occur.
This band recorded for [[RCA Victor]], just as the original Miller band did.<ref name="autogenerated4" /> Beneke was struggling with how to expand the Miller sound and also how to achieve success under his own name. What began as the "Glenn Miller Orchestra Under the Direction of Tex Beneke" finally became "The Tex Beneke Orchestra". By 1950, Beneke and the Miller estate parted ways.<ref>Simon, page 439</ref> The break was acrimonious and Beneke is not currently listed by the Miller estate as a former leader of the Glenn Miller orchestra.<ref>[http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/former_leaders.html Glennmillerorchestra.com, Former leaders]</ref>


To finance the bridges, fees would be needed. Possible sources of these fees include container traffic between Russia/China and Canada/U.S., which could make the transit much more quickly by rail than by crossing the Pacific Ocean. It is impossible to finance the bridge on road/rail fees only. A bridge which also carried pipelines would earn pipeline revenues. Potential income from these sources is unknown. The main market for the oil would be the contiguous part of the USA, a very long distance away. The cost to ship the oil by boat is much lower than the enormous cost for a pipeline. Natural gas is a more likely candidate, due to the relative difficulty of transporting it by boat.
When Glenn Miller was alive, various bandleaders like Bob Chester imitated his style.<ref>[http://www.parabrisas.com/d_chesterb.php Solid!, Bob Chester biography/filmography]</ref> By the early 1950s, various bands were again copying the Miller style of clarinet led reeds and muted trumpets, notably [[Ralph Flanagan]],<ref>[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/ralphflanagan.html Bigbandlibrary.com, Ralph Flanagan]</ref> [[Jerry Gray (arranger)|Jerry Gray]],<ref>[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/jerrygray.html Bigbandlibrary.com, Jerry Gray]</ref> and [[Ray Anthony]].<ref>[http://www.parabrisas.com/d_anthonyr.php Solid!, Ray Anthony biography/filmography]</ref> This, coupled with the success of ''[[The Glenn Miller Story]]'' (1953),<ref name="autogenerated2">{{imdb title|0047030|The Glenn Miller Story (1953)}}</ref> led the Miller estate to ask [[Ray McKinley]] to lead a new ghost band.<ref name="autogenerated4" /> This 1956 band which included such greats as pianist Don Wilhite among others, is the original version of the current ghost band that still tours the United States today.<ref>[http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/itinerary.html Glennmillerorchestra.com, Itinerary]</ref> The official Glenn Miller orchestra for the United States is currently under the direction of Larry O'Brien.<ref>[http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/larry.html Glenn Miller Productions - Larry O'Brien Biography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The officially sanctioned Glenn Miller Orchestra for the United Kingdom has toured and recorded with great success under the leadership of Ray McVay.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/stage/reviews/2004/glenn_miller.shtml BBC - Devon Theatre - Review - Glenn Miller Orchestra at Plymouth Pavilions<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The official Glenn Miller Orchestra for Europe has been led by Wil Salden since 1990.<ref>[http://www.glenn-miller.de/t3/index.php?id=33 Glenn Miller Orchestra :: Portrait Wil Salden<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==Alternatives==
==Air Force Band legacy==
Assuming that the necessary access routes are in place, alternatives to a Bering Strait bridge include:
In the mid nineteen forties, the Miller led Army Air Force band was decommissioned and sent back to the United States. "[T]he chief of the European theater asked [Warrant Officer Harold Lindsay] Lin [Arinson] to put together another band to take its place, and that's when the 314 was formed." According to singer Tony Bennett, the 314 was the immediate successor to the Glenn Miller led AAF orchestra. (For more elaboration on that band, where the above quote is taken from, see Tony Bennett with Will Friedwald, ''The Good Life'', Pocket Books, New York, 1998.) The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band's legacy has carried on with the [[Airmen of Note]], a band within the United States Air Force. This band was created in 1950 from smaller groups within the Bolling Air Force Base in Washington D.C. and continues to play jazz music for the Air Force community and the general public.<ref name="autogenerated1" />


* Car/rail ferry service in summer months.
==Postscript==
* Car/rail ferry service around the year, requires special top-class ice-capable ferries, and [[ice breaker]] assistance.
In 1953, [[Anthony Mann]] directed ''[[The Glenn Miller Story]]'' for [[Universal-International Pictures]] starring [[James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart]] and [[June Allyson]].<ref name="autogenerated2" /> The fictionalized biographical film was a popular success. Miller's mother said of the movie that actor James Stewart "wasn't as good looking as my son".<ref>George Thomas Simon. ''Glenn Miller and his Orchestra''. W.H.Allen/Virgin Books (1974). ISBN 0491015011</ref> The number one 1967 single "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles quotes the Glenn Miller associated song "In the Mood" in the closing fade-out. "In the Mood" was also the main theme in the novelty record "Swing the Mood" by [[Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers]], which was number one for five weeks in the UK in nineteen eighty-nine.
* An [[immersed tube]] or [[tunnel]].
* A dam, for instance the proposed [[St. Lawrence Dam]].


==Bering Strait tunnel==
Glenn Miller's widow, Helen, died in 1966.<ref>Simon, page 434</ref> Herb Miller, Glenn Miller's brother, led his own band in the United States and England until the late 1980s.<ref>[http://nfo.net/usa/m3.html Big Bands Database Plus]</ref> Herb's son, John continues the tradition leading a band playing mainly Glenn Miller style music.<ref>[http://www.johnmillerorchestra.org.uk/cgi-bin/JohnMiller/index.html Johnmillerorchestra.org.uk]</ref>
{{Cleanup|date=April 2008}}
The '''TKM-World Link''' is a planned link between [[Siberia]] and [[Alaska]] providing oil, natural gas, and electricity to the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] from [[Russia]]. The plan includes provisions to build a 64 mile (103&nbsp;km) road and rail tunnel under the [[Bering Strait]] which, if completed, would become the longest tunnel in the world. <ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/russia_plans_worlds_longest_tunnel_a_link_to_alaska Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a Link to Alaska | The News is NowPublic.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> As of 2007, the 53.85 km [[Seikan Tunnel]] is the longest tunnel of this type.
The tunnel would be part of a railway joining [[Yakutsk]], the capital of the [[Russia]]n [[Yakutia]] republic, with the western coast of [[Alaska]].


[[Vladimir Putin]], the Russian ex-president, has approved a plan to build a railroad to the Bering Strait area, as a part of the development plan for the years until 2030. A Bering Strait tunnel could be built after this railroad is built. The funding is however doubted. The 64-mile tunnel would run under the Bering Strait between Chukotka, in the Russian far east, and Alaska.
In the United States and England, there are a few archives that are devoted to Glenn Miller. The Glenn Miller archive, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, includes the original manuscript to Miller's theme song, "Moonlight Serenade", among other items of interest.<ref>[http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2007/184.html CU-Boulder's Glenn Miller Archive Receives Major Gift Including Seldom-Heard Music | News Center | University of Colorado at Boulder<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2002, the Glenn Miller Museum opened to the public at the former [[RAF Twinwood Farm]], in [[Clapham, Bedfordshire]], England.<ref>[http://www.twinwoodairfield.co.uk/twinwood-airfield-glenn-miller.html#Twinwood-Airfield-Glenn-Miller Twinwood Airfield Museum. ''Glenn Miller'']</ref>
Putin discussed plans for a tunnel to link his country with America when he met with [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]] on [[April 6]], [[2008]].{{Fact|date=October 2008}} A cost estimate was £33 (US$66) billion. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3646415.ece Bridge-building Vladimir Putin wants tunnel to US - Times Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/08-04-2008/104821-alaska_tunnel-0 Trip from Russia to USA may take one hour soon - Pravda.Ru<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
{{Fact|date=March 2008}}


===History===
In 2003, Miller posthumously received the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref>[http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Lifetime_Awards/ Grammy.com, Lifetime Achievement Award list]</ref>
[[Tsar Nicholas II]] approved a planned tunnel in 1905. According to other sources a railway ferry was planned. These hopes were dashed when Russia became involved in [[World War I]]{{Fact|date=December 2007}}. Also funding could not be raised.


===Plan===
The entire output of cigarette sponsored radio programs Glenn Miller did between 1939 and 1942 were recorded by the Glenn Miller organization on [[acetate disc]]s.<ref>Simon, pages 200-1</ref> In the 1950s and afterwards, RCA-Victor distributed many of these on long playing albums and compact discs. A sizeable representation of the recording output by the various Glenn Miller led bands are almost always in circulation by Sony/BMG Music and the Universal Music Group, the successor labels to RCA-Victor, Bluebird, Columbia and Decca. Glenn Miller remains one of the most famous and recognizable names of the big band era of 1935 to 1945.
The Russian plan for the TKM-World Link involves creating a 6,000 km (3,700 mi) route through Siberia to facilitate economic ties to the U.S. A pipeline will be created to transport natural gas and oil from Siberia{{Fact|date=December 2007}}

==Glenn Miller Compositions==

Possibly because Miller began as an arranger, many people erroneously assume Glenn Miller wrote his germane and popular recordings such as "[[In The Mood]]"[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1080105] or "[[String of Pearls]]". Few bandleaders of the swing era wrote much of their own repertoire. In keeping with the time period in popular music, Miller had a staff of arrangers who wrote originals like "String of Pearls" (written and arranged by [[Jerry Gray]])[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/jerrygray.html] or took originals like "In The Mood" (writing credit given to [[Joe Garland]] and arranged by [[Eddie Durham]][http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?iA=4&artist=6763]) and "[[Tuxedo Junction]]" (written by bandleader [[Erskine Hawkins]] and arranged by Jerry Gray) and arranged them for the Miller band to record and broadcast. However, Glenn Miller composed individually or in collaboration, at least ten songs that are available on recordings.

The ten songs that Glenn Miller composed are the following:

1. "Moonlight Serenade", Glenn Miller composed the music in 1939, with lyrics by [[Mitchell Parish]], was his theme and signature song and is one of the most recognizable compositions of the 20th century, which has been covered by Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, Ella Fitzgerald, Carly Simon, Charlie Haden, and the rock group Chicago.

2. "Sold American" was composed in 1938 by Glenn Miller and John "Chummy" MacGregor, the piano player in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The title appears on some recordings as "Solid American".

3. "Solo Hop" was a Top 10 hit from the summer of 1935 which Glenn Miller composed for his own band when he started recording for [[Columbia Records]].

4. "Introduction to a Waltz" was an instrumental composition.

5. "Annie's Cousin Fanny" or as "Annie's Cousin Fannie is a Sweetie of Mine" from 1935, was written for the Dorsey Brothers Band, which featured lyrics, was recorded first on June 4, 1934 in New York when Glenn Miller was part of the band and released on [[Brunswick]] and [[Decca]]. The record also appears as "Annie's Cousin Fannie is a Sweetie of Mine" sung by Kay Weber, one of the first female singers of the Big Band Era, and Glenn Miller, who had discovered her. The Dorsey Band recorded three diffferent versions of the song in June and August, 1934, released on Brunswick and later on Decca. Weber explained the origins of the song: "There was a very popular song at the time called Annie Doesn't Live Here Any More and Glenn wrote a spin-off of this song called Annie's Cousin Fannie Is A Sweetie Of Mine. I don't know why Tommy and Jimmy recorded it so much. I can only guess they were looking for the 'right' combination for the song."

6. "Dese Dem Dose" also as "Dese Dem and Dose" and "Dese Dem & Dose" was composed by Glenn Miller in 1935 for the [[Dorsey Brothers Band]], was recorded in New York on February 6, 1935, and was released as a 78 on Decca paired with "Weary Blues" as Decca 469. Jazz trumpeter Billy Butterfield and Andy Bartha later covered "Dese Dem Dose".

7. "Doin' the Jive" was composed by Glenn Miller in 1937.

8. "Community Swing" was composed by Glenn Miller in 1937.

9. "Seven-O-Five" or "705" was an instrumental composed by Glenn Miller.

10. "I Sustain the Wings" was composed by Glenn Miller, Chummy MacGregor, Norman Leyden and Bill Meyers. This was the theme music for the NBC radio programs that was broadcast weekly from June, 1943 to 1944, during World War II. This was when Glenn Miller was in the U.S. Air Force. Major Glenn Miller and the American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force also made recordings for the [[Office of War Information]] (OWI) in 1944 that were broadcast over the American Broadcasting Station in Europe to Germany in a program called The Wehrmacht Hour.

== Selected Discography==
* Solo Hop
* The Nearness of You - with Ray Eberle
* Doin' the Jive
* Community Swing
* Sold American
* Introduction to a Waltz
* Yester Thoughts - with Ray Eberle
* [[Moonlight Serenade]]
* Wishing (Will Make It So)
* Sunrise Serenade
* Runnin' Wild
* Stairway to the Stars
* 705
* Moon Love
* [[Pennsylvania 6-5000]]
* I've Got a Gal In Kalamazoo
* [[Tuxedo Junction]]
* [[String of Pearls]]
* Over the Rainbow
* My Isle of Golden Dreams
* [[In the Mood]]
* Indian Summer
* Gaucho Serenade
* When You Wish Upon a Star
* Say "Si Si" (Para Vigo Me Voy)
* [[Stardust]]
* Fools Rush In
* [[Danny Boy]]
* Imagination
* Long Ago (and Far Away) with Johnny Desmond (arranged by Norman Leyden)
* People Will Say We're In Love with Johnny Desmond (arranged by Norman Leyden)
* Flying Home (arranged by Steve Steck)
* Mission to Moscow (Mel Powell)
* I Sustain the Wings

==Selected band alumni==
For the most part, Glenn Miller worked with extremely talented men and women. Many of the Miller musicians went on to studio and touring careers in Hollywood and New York after [[World War II]]:

*[[Billy May]], a trumpeter and an arranger for the civilian band, became a much-coveted arranger and studio orchestra leader, going on to work with [[Frank Sinatra]],<ref>[http://www.spaceagepop.com/may.htm Billy May<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Rosemary Clooney]],<ref name="autogenerated3">[http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/discog4.htm Bing Crosby Discography: 1956-77<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Anita O'Day]],<ref>[http://www.anitaoday.com/coleporter.html ColePorter<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[Bing Crosby]],<ref name="autogenerated3" /> among other singers of the post-war era.

*Cornetist [[Bobby Hackett]] soloed on "A String of Pearls", with Miller in 1941.<ref>[http://landing.com/profiles/hackett.htm Bobby Hackett<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His reputation only ascended in the years after.<ref>[http://www.libertyhall.com/bobby.html Bobby Hackett: Accomplished musician with a beautiful sound]</ref> Hackett went on to work with [[Jackie Gleason]] and [[Dizzy Gillespie]].<ref>[http://www.spaceagepop.com/hackett.htm Space Age Music Maker, Bobby Hackett]</ref>

*[[Johnny Desmond]],<ref>{{imdb name|0221454|Johnny Desmond}}</ref> also from the Army Air Force Band, became a popular singer in the 1950s, and appeared on Broadway in the 1960s in ''[[Funny Girl (film)|Funny Girl]]'' with [[Barbra Streisand]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Wahls|first=Robert| title =Johnny Arrives at the Garden| publisher =''Sunday New York News'' | date= 1965-11-19 | url =http://barbra-archives.com/MagazineArchives/sunday_news_1965_desmond.html#desmond}}</ref>

*[[Kay Starr]] became one of the most popular singers of the post-war period; she got her start with Glenn Miller in 1939 recording two sides, "Baby Me" and "Love With a Capital You".<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/~Kay_Starr/biography.html Who is Kay Starr?: A short biography]</ref>


Some of the Army Air Force members went on to notable careers in classical music. Two such are:

*[[Norman Leyden]] an arranger from the Army Air Force Band<ref>{{imdb name|0508024|Norman Leyden}}</ref> later became a noted arranger in New York, composing arrangements for [[Sarah Vaughan]],<ref>[http://www.michaelminn.com/index.php?vaughan Inspired from Leslie Gourse's biography of Sarah Vaughan]</ref> among other artists. His long career culminated with his highly regarded work for the Oregon Symphony, now as Laureate Associate Conductor.<ref>[http://www.orsymphony.org/news/0304/0227_PO6_miller.html Oregon Symphony News Release, February 27, 2004 ]</ref><ref>[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/glennmillerparttwo.html Bigbandlibrary.com: Glenn Miller: "A Dream Band"]</ref>

*[[Mel Powell]],1923-1998, was the pianist and one of the arrangers in the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. Gary Giddins comments on "[Miller's] splendid forty-two-piece Army Air Force Band’s startling performance of 'Mission to Moscow.'”<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/31/040531crmu_music Stride and Swing: The New Yorker<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> "Mission to Moscow" was arranged by Mel Powell, the former pianist for the Benny Goodman orchestra before he was drafted into the service and subsequently joined the Miller orchestra. "Pearls on Velvet" with the Air Force Band is also one of his compositions.<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:kjfwxqrdldse Allmusic<!-- bot-generated title -->] at www.allmusic.com</ref>"In 1949, he decided on a radical change of direction, setting aside jazz and enrolling as a pupil of the composer and teacher [[Paul Hindemith]] at [[Yale University]]."<ref>[http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=920546056 Mel Powell: 1923-1998<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Powell started teaching at the [[California Institute for the Arts]] in [[Los Angeles]] in 1969.<ref>[http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&composerId_2872=1243 Mel Powell<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|3}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite news
|url=http://www.beringstraitcrossing.com
|title=The Bering Strait Crossing" by James A. Oliver out now in paperback ISBN 0954699564
|publisher=Information Architects
|date=2006 & 2007 (Revised)}}
*{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1099304.stm |title=Russians dream of tunnel to Alaska. |publisher=BBC News. |date=2001}}
*{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=a0bsMii8oKXw |title=Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a connection to Alaska |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2007-04-18 |accessdate=2007-04-18}}
*{{cite news |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-04-19-voa63.cfm
|title=Russia Considering Tunnel Between Asia and North America |publisher=VOA |date=2007-04-19 |accessdate=2007-04-19}}


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Bering land bridge]]
{{wikiquote|Glenn Miller}}
* [[Gibraltar Tunnel]]
* [[Swing (genre)|Swing music]]
* [[Bandleader]]
* [[Seikan Tunnel]]
* [[Big band]]
* [[Channel Tunnel]]
* [[Cosmopolitan Railway]]
* [[Glenn Miller Orchestra]]
* ''[[The Glenn Miller Story]]''
* [[Trans Global Highway]]
* [[World War II]]
* [[Strait of Messina Bridge]]
* [[Northern East West Freight Corridor]]
* [[Missing in action]]
* [[Death in absentia]]
* [[St. Lawrence Dam]]
* [[List of people who have disappeared]]
* [[List of swing/big band musicians]]

== External links ==
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===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})===============================-->
* [http://www.freeotrshows.com/otr/g/Glenn_Miller.html Glenn Miller Radio Show (9 episodes from 1940)]
* [http://www.glennmiller.org The Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, organizing the annual Glenn Miller Birthplace Festival in Clarinda, IA]


==References==
<references/>


==External links==
* [http://media.dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/beringstrait/interactive/interactive.html Discovery Channel's ''Extreme Engineering'']
* [http://www.alaskahistoricalsociety.org/Cole%20bridge%20to%20Siberia.htm Alaska History Society Article]
* [http://upf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=94 World Peace King Tunnel]
* [http://www.summitbridge.com/summit_bridge.html The Trans-Earth Skyway System]
* [http://www.transglobalhighway.com Trans-Global Highway]
* [http://www.theglobalrailway.com The Global Railway]
* [http://www.beringstraitcrossing.com The Bering Strait Crossing]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1099304.stm Russians dream of tunnel to Alaska. BBC News. 2001]
* [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=a0bsMii8oKXw Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel] Bloomberg News, April 18, 2007
* [http://www.alaskacanadarail.org Alaska Canada Rail Link - Project Feasibility Study]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmg99frzeCs TV Feature about T.Y. Lin's proposal]


{{coord|65|47|N|169|01|W|type:isle|display=title}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Miller, Glenn
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Miller, Alton Glenn
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Jazz musician
|DATE OF BIRTH={{birth date|1904|03|1}}
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Clarinda]], [[Iowa]], [[U.S]]
|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|1944|12|15}}
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Glenn}}


[[Category:People from Fort Morgan, Colorado]]
[[Category:Railroad bridges in Alaska]]
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:Railroad tunnels in Alaska]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Transportation in Alaska]]
[[Category:Swing bandleaders]]
[[Category:Railway bridges in Russia]]
[[Category:Big band bandleaders]]
[[Category:Railway tunnels in Russia]]
[[Category:Swing trombonists]]
[[Category:Transport in Russia]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:Future public transportation]]
[[Category:American jazz trombonists]]
[[Category:Megastructures]]
[[Category:Disappeared people]]
[[Category:Nome Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Planned or proposed bridges]]
[[Category:People from Iowa]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Cultural history of World War II]]
[[Category:University of Colorado alumni]]
[[Category:Colorado musicians]]
[[Category:Missing in action]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters]]


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Revision as of 07:56, 13 October 2008

Possible route of Intercontinental Peace Bridge across the Bering Strait.
Nautical map of Bering strait. Depth in meters.

The Bering Strait bridge or Bering Strait tunnel, if ever constructed, would be a bridge or tunnel spanning the Bering Strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka, Russia, and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, United States. The name The Intercontinental Peace Bridge has been used in some proposals. Another name suggested is Eurasia-America Transport Link.[1] Whatever the name, the construction of such a bridge or tunnel would face unprecedented engineering, political, and financial challenges, and to date, no government has authorized the start of any planning or construction.

A Bering Strait bridge or tunnel would provide an overland connection linking Asia, Africa and Europe with North America and South America. The Bering Strait could be spanned by a series of three bridges via the Diomede Islands for a total distance of about 80 km (50 miles). The two long spans would each be comparable in length to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, currently the second-longest bridge in the world. However, the most recent proposal calls for construction of a tunnel.

History

The concept of an overland connection crossing the Bering Strait goes back at least before the 20th century. William Gilpin, first governor of the Colorado Territory, envisioned a vast "Cosmopolitan Railway" in 1890 linking the entire world via a series of railways. Two years later Joseph Strauss, who went on to design over 400 bridges, including the Golden Gate Bridge, put forward the first proposal for a Bering Strait railroad bridge in his senior thesis[2]. The project was presented to the government of the Russian Empire, but it was rejected.[3]

Interest was renewed in 1943 with the completion of the Alaska Highway linking the remote territory of Alaska with the Continental United States. Ambitious Alaskans envisioned the highway continuing to link with Nome near the Bering Strait, but no serious proposals for a bridge were made.

In 1968 engineer T. Y. Lin made a feasibility study of a Bering Strait bridge and estimated a cost more than $4 billion. Like Gilpin, Lin envisioned the project as a symbol of international cooperation and unity. Lin also proposed, among other bridges, a second massive connection spanning the Strait of Gibraltar. During the Cold War, however, the concept met mostly with cool reception. Lin died in 2003.

Several others have advocated a Bering Strait bridge including Russian railway engineer Anatoly Cherkasov soon after the end of the Cold War.

Challenges

Technical challenges

The route would lie just south of the Arctic Circle, subject to long, dark winters and extreme weather (average winter lows −20°C with possible lows approaching −50°C). Maintenance of any exposed roadway would be difficult and closures frequent. Even maintenance of enclosed roadways and pipelines could also be affected by winter weather. Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers. Specially shaped massive piers along the ocean floor would be needed to keep the bridge stable. The Confederation Bridge between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick addresses similar concerns on a much smaller scale.

The bridge would require thousands of kilometers of new road and/or track over extremely harsh terrain through the wilderness of Alaska and Siberia. The nearest railheads are Fairbanks, Alaska or Jackson, British Columbia on the Dease Lake branch of Canadian National on the North American side and Yakutsk on the Russian side. Russia is in the process of completing a rail connection from the Baikal Amur Mainline to Yakutsk. This may prove to be less of a problem, with a binational study going on to see if a rail link from Jackson, BC and Dease Lake, BC or Fort St. John, BC to Fairbanks, Alaska (via Whitehorse, Yukon) is feasible [4].

The United States and Canada use American standard gauge (4 feet, 8.5 inches wide) rails, while Russia uses Russian broad gauge (5 feet wide) tracks, a break-of-gauge, and this would have to be addressed. A dual-gauge track network has been proposed, as those are used in some areas of Australia, whose rail network is split into different gauges. A cheaper solution is variable gauge axles or bogie exchange, as used at several places in the world already.

Environmental opposition

Both the Alaskan and Siberian wilderness areas are the focus of major conservation efforts. Access roads would cross thousands of kilometers of these areas. The bridge itself would cross a major whale migration route, as well the world's largest King Crab migration route.

Similar concerns have arisen over the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and oil and natural gas drilling on the Alaska North Slope, which remains highly controversial: if any problems occur during the building of the bridge, or oil or natural gas is spilled into the strait, the natural environment could be devastated.

There have been long discussions about a highway for the benefit of residents in western Alaska, but environmental concerns and fears of undue cultural influence from a higher number of visitors to Eskimo villages have obstructed these plans[citation needed].

Economic costs and benefits

Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering estimates the cost of a highway, double track rail and pipelines, at $105 billion, five times the cost of the Channel Tunnel. This excludes the cost of new roads and railways to reach the bridge.[5]

A lower estimate for just a road bridge is $15-25 billion, based on the price per mile of other bridges, like the Confederation Bridge which cost US$180 million per mile. The Discovery Channel proposal contains several extremely long suspension spans, while the Confederation Bridge is a pure concrete bridge. The water is not so deep (average 100-150 ft) and the boat traffic not so dense as to require very long suspension spans (as opposed to the Strait of Messina Bridge or the Gibraltar Bridge).

The cost for the connections would be high also. Alone, a road to the Fairbanks area, about 700 miles, would cost at least $6 billion. The distances on the Russian side are larger than that. A railway would have to be much longer, and cost much more money. These costs must be justified inside each country, like linking Alaska with the rest of the USA, and linking western Alaska with the rest of Alaska. The bridge itself is hard enough to finance.

The Bering Strait area is extremely remote and sparsely populated. Air is the main mode of travel in the area, and across the strait there are very few chartered flights by small private airlines such as Bering Air, located in Nome. There is no existing car or rail ferry service as there are no roads or railways for it to serve. So far, tourism in Chukotka is hindered by the international border controls and visa requirements. In Russia, a special visit permit is required because of military restrictions; this must be lifted for significant volumes of travel by air or boat to occur.

To finance the bridges, fees would be needed. Possible sources of these fees include container traffic between Russia/China and Canada/U.S., which could make the transit much more quickly by rail than by crossing the Pacific Ocean. It is impossible to finance the bridge on road/rail fees only. A bridge which also carried pipelines would earn pipeline revenues. Potential income from these sources is unknown. The main market for the oil would be the contiguous part of the USA, a very long distance away. The cost to ship the oil by boat is much lower than the enormous cost for a pipeline. Natural gas is a more likely candidate, due to the relative difficulty of transporting it by boat.

Alternatives

Assuming that the necessary access routes are in place, alternatives to a Bering Strait bridge include:

  • Car/rail ferry service in summer months.
  • Car/rail ferry service around the year, requires special top-class ice-capable ferries, and ice breaker assistance.
  • An immersed tube or tunnel.
  • A dam, for instance the proposed St. Lawrence Dam.

Bering Strait tunnel

The TKM-World Link is a planned link between Siberia and Alaska providing oil, natural gas, and electricity to the United States and Canada from Russia. The plan includes provisions to build a 64 mile (103 km) road and rail tunnel under the Bering Strait which, if completed, would become the longest tunnel in the world. [6] As of 2007, the 53.85 km Seikan Tunnel is the longest tunnel of this type. The tunnel would be part of a railway joining Yakutsk, the capital of the Russian Yakutia republic, with the western coast of Alaska.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian ex-president, has approved a plan to build a railroad to the Bering Strait area, as a part of the development plan for the years until 2030. A Bering Strait tunnel could be built after this railroad is built. The funding is however doubted. The 64-mile tunnel would run under the Bering Strait between Chukotka, in the Russian far east, and Alaska. Putin discussed plans for a tunnel to link his country with America when he met with U.S. President George W. Bush on April 6, 2008.[citation needed] A cost estimate was £33 (US$66) billion. [7] [8].[citation needed]

History

Tsar Nicholas II approved a planned tunnel in 1905. According to other sources a railway ferry was planned. These hopes were dashed when Russia became involved in World War I[citation needed]. Also funding could not be raised.

Plan

The Russian plan for the TKM-World Link involves creating a 6,000 km (3,700 mi) route through Siberia to facilitate economic ties to the U.S. A pipeline will be created to transport natural gas and oil from Siberia[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ A Transcontinental Eurasia-America Transport Link via the Bering Strait, at the 1st International Conference "Megaprojects of the Russian East"
  2. ^ Kevin Starr. Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California, 330. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0195100808
  3. ^ An excerpt from memoirs of the Russian Empire Minister of Land Forces Aleksandr Rediger Template:Ru icon
  4. ^ AlaskaCanadaRail.org
  5. ^ Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering
  6. ^ Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a Link to Alaska | The News is NowPublic.com
  7. ^ Bridge-building Vladimir Putin wants tunnel to US - Times Online
  8. ^ Trip from Russia to USA may take one hour soon - Pravda.Ru
  • "The Bering Strait Crossing" by James A. Oliver out now in paperback ISBN 0954699564". Information Architects. 2006 & 2007 (Revised). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • "Russians dream of tunnel to Alaska". BBC News. 2001.
  • "Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a connection to Alaska". Bloomberg. 2007-04-18. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  • "Russia Considering Tunnel Between Asia and North America". VOA. 2007-04-19. Retrieved 2007-04-19.

See also

References


External links

65°47′N 169°01′W / 65.783°N 169.017°W / 65.783; -169.017

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