Into the Blue Abyss: World’s deepest POOL measuring 164-feet down is being built in Cornwall for £150MILLION – and it could be used to train astronauts, film underwater scenes or test subsea robots
- The world’s deepest pool, adjacent to Cornwall Airport Newquay, will test the latest underwater technology
- It will be a research, test and training centre serving the offshore energy, marine, defence and space sectors
- The Blue Abyss pool will hold more than 42,000 cubic metres of water – equivalent to 168 million cups of tea
What’s set to become the world’s deepest pool is about to start construction in Cornwall – for £150million.
The pool, called Blue Abyss and built by a British company of the same name, will measure 164 feet (50 metres) down – about half the size of Elizabeth Tower in Westminster.
It will hold more than 42,000 cubic metres of water – equivalent to 17 Olympic size swimming pools or 168 million cups of tea – making it the largest and deepest indoor pool in the world.
But it won’t be open to the public for a swim – it’ll be a research, test and training centre serving the offshore energy, marine, defence and space sectors.
The pool is yet to be constructed, but a site has been chosen, adjacent to Cornwall Airport Newquay.
Construction will start once planning permission goes through and is set to be completed after 18 months, in the second quarter of 2023, according to Blue Abyss.
The pool is expected to create 160 jobs, pump £50million of build costs into Cornwall during its construction and generate £8million annually for the local economy.
The Blue Abyss pool will act as a research, test and training centre serving the offshore energy, marine, defence and space sectors. Concept image released by Blue Abyss
The pool holds over 42,000 cubic metres of water – the equivalent of 17 Olympic size swimming pools or 168 million cups of tea – making it the largest and deepest indoor pool in the world
The project has the support of legendary British astronaut Tim Peake, who became Britain’s first official astronaut in December 2015 when he spent six months on board the International Space Station (ISS).
‘I am proud to be part of the Blue Abyss team and I am delighted to see the project take such an important step forward with today’s announcement,’ Major Peake said.
‘Cornwall is the perfect home for Blue Abyss, a region with great potential for its space, aerospace and renewable energy ambitions.’
Blue Abyss ‘will appeal to a range of markets by simulating extreme environments in a safe and controlled setting and include the world’s first commercial astronaut training centre’, according to the company
The pool will act as the world’s first commercial astronaut training centre. Astronauts train underwater because it simulates weightlessness in space.
Being underwater provides ‘neutral buoyancy’ – an equal tendency to float as it does sink, which practically provides the same situation as being truly weightless.
The pool will also benefit research projects in other markets, including offshore energy, maritime defence, ocean ecology, human life sciences and commercial diving, and will help in the development of remotely operated subsea robots and mini submersibles.
It could even be hired out by filmmakers who are shooting scenes underwater, bringing famous TV and film stars to Cornwall.
Blue Abyss will be situated at the Aerohub Enterprise Zone – a cluster of buildings for businesses dedicated to the aerospace industry.
The firm is in negotiation with Cornwall Council to acquire four adjacent plots on the Aerohub Business Park, which is next to Cornwall Airport Newquay.
The 10-acre site would house the pool, an astronaut training centre, altitude and oxygen chambers, a ‘microgravity suite’, a training centre with classrooms, workshops, onsite catering and accommodation.
Lifelike concept images released by the firm shows the pool will be housed within a curious tear-drop-shaped building, which has been designed by British architect Robin Partington.
Partington led the design team for The Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) in Central London.
Concept image released by Blue Abyss shows the unusual building that will house the pool. The design is by Robin Partington, who led the design team for The Gherkin in London
Cross section of the upcoming building. The 10-acre site would house the pool, an astronaut training centre, altitude and oxygen chambers, a ‘microgravity suite’, a training centre with classrooms, workshops, onsite catering and accommodation
As well as measuring 164 feet down, the pool will be 130 by 164 feet on the surface, with a 52-foot- wide shaft, plunging to its record-breaking depth
As well as measuring 164 feet down, the pool will be 130 by 164 feet on the surface, but with a narrower shaft at the very bottom – around 52 feet wide.
As a comparison, NASA’s astronaut training pool, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is only 40 feet (12 metres deep).
Currently, the world record for the deepest pool is held by Deepspot in Mszczonów, Poland, which has a depth of 148 feet (45 metres) and only opened in November last year.
DeepSpot is 16 feet deeper than the present record holder – Y-40 Deep Joy in the northern Italian town of Montegrotto Terme.
BLUE ABYSS WILL TAKE THE WORLD RECORD FROM DEEPSPOT IN POLAND
The new swimming pool is called DeepSpot and at 148 feet deep it holds the world record for the deepest swimming pool by 16 feet
The world’s deepest swimming pool opened in Poland on November 21, 2020. It has a depth of 148 feet (45 metres) and a water volume equivalent to 27 Olympic-size swimming pools.
Deepspot opened its doors to the public in the central Polish town of Mszczonow, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) from the capital Warsaw, and includes a small wreck for scuba and free divers to explore.
The pool can accommodate customers during the coronavirus pandemic because it is considered a training centre for divers.
It is accessible to scuba divers and other members of the public and includes an underwater tunnel, hotel rooms overlooking the pool, as well as restaurants and conference rooms.
DeepSpot is 16 feet deeper than the present record holder – Y-40 Deep Joy in the northern Italian town of Montegrotto Terme.
The world’s deepest swimming pool Deepspot opened in Mszczonow, Poland, in November 2020. It has a depth of 148 feet (45 metres)
Around a dozen customers came on the first day, including eight seasoned divers who hoped to pass an exam to become instructors.
‘There are no magnificent fish or coral reefs here so it is no substitute for the sea but it is definitely a good place to learn and to train in order to dive safely in open water,’ said Przemyslaw Kacprzak, a 39-year-old diving instructor.
‘And it’s fun! It’s like a kindergarten for divers!’
Jerzy Nowacki, a 30-year-old forestry officer and diving novice, said: ‘For my first time, we went down five metres but you can see all the way to the bottom – the wreck, the caves – it’s magnificent!’
Deepspot director Michal Braszczynski, a 47-year-old diving enthusiast, confirmed the pool was the deepest in the world and said it ‘will also be used by the fire brigade and the army’.
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