Alphabet's Project Taara is "like fibre, but without the cables"

[Tabbykatze]

How about a tall bridge over the Congo River?
Then, the depth and speed of that river are irrelevant.
The bridge doesn't need to support cars, trucks and trains

Likely because the Congo river is huge, has massive swells and drainage basins so its risky. If the bridge is damaged and therefore the fibre is too then game over for that fibre run, companies laying things like fibre don't normally like to run them across bridges (afaik, someone correct me if i'm wrong).

There are bridges across the Congo already.

[cheesemp]

Likely because the Congo river is huge, has massive swells and drainage basins so its risky. If the bridge is damaged and therefore the fibre is too then game over for that fibre run, companies laying things like fibre don't normally like to run them across bridges (afaik, someone correct me if i'm wrong).

There are bridges across the Congo already.

Can't comment from massive experience but glass/plastic fibre's don't take much lateral force to be damaged (try bending glass and it shatters, plastic becomes opaque or snaps). Copper is a lot more tolerant to bending forces (just think about all the headphones wires you've got kinks in. Don't forget bigger fibre bundles will be even more vulnerable. I'd imagine you don't want to lay fibre across anything that can shift around?

[Tabbykatze]

Can't comment from massive experience but glass/plastic fibre's don't take much lateral force to be damaged (try bending glass and it shatters, plastic becomes opaque or snaps). Copper is a lot more tolerant to bending forces (just think about all the headphones wires you've got kinks in. Don't forget bigger fibre bundles will be even more vulnerable. I'd imagine you don't want to lay fibre across anything that can shift around?

Exactly, you'd have to build in substantial resiliency to movement if you're running it across a bridge.

[DanceswithUnix]

Exactly, you'd have to build in substantial resiliency to movement if you're running it across a bridge.

But bridges have defined "bearings" near the ends to control where expansion/contraction happens, and otherwise (ignoring the Tacoma Narrows) generally don't move much. I've plugged in quite a lot of 40GbE optical connections in my time, and those optical cables are pretty wobbly. Way more than concrete that might house it in a bridge.

I thought bridges house quite a lot of ducting. One of the reasons they stop cars going onto the pavements on some road bridges using big bollards, to keep heavy cars off the fragile ducting only intended to carry pedestrians on top.

Still, bridges are *really* expensive to build compared to a couple of towers and a laser link. Doing one just for cables doesn't feel cost effective vs just burying a cable under the riverbed so it doesn't get dredged up straight away.

[maxopus]

One good shot with a paintball gun and your evening watching Netflix is ruined.

[flufflogic]

Did they have to design it to look like something you'd see in City 13?