比利时小镇计划建地下管道运啤酒!
Under the streets of the medieval Belgian city of Bruges, a full two-mile pipeline is being built -- exclusively for beer.
在比利时的中世纪古城布鲁日的街道下面，一条长达2英里的管道正在建设中--专用于输送啤酒。The pipeline, which is expected to be completed this summer, will pump beer at a speed of 4,000 liters (about 1,057 gallons) an hour from De Halve Maan Brewery in the center of Brussels to its bottling plant outside the city.
这条管道预计将于今年夏天完成，届时将以每小时4000公升（约1057加仑）的速度把啤酒从市中心的De Halve Maan Brewery啤酒厂运出，送到城郊的灌装基地。"I think we are the very first ones to do this ever in the world," says Xavier Vanneste, whose family has run the brewery for 160 years.
酒厂老板格泽维尔·凡内斯特表示：“我想我们是第一个这么做的厂家。”据悉，他的家族已经经营这家酒厂有160年之久了。
It sounds like a beer-lover's dream -- beer on tap, 24 hours a day. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of support around town for the project.
这听起来好像是一个啤酒控的梦想——啤酒从管道输送，全天24小时供应。不出所料，该市的很多人都对这个项目给予了支持。"We received a lot of people spontaneously offering us to pass alongside their house," Vanneste said. "They just had one condition -- they wanted a tap-in point."
凡内斯特说：“我们收到了许多人的自发建议，他们愿意让输酒管道从家旁边经过，只有一个条件--他们能接上水龙头喝啤酒。“But sadly for the famously beer-loving Belgians, the pipeline wasn't built so that people could have personal taps inside their homes. It's instead solving a logistical problem.
只可惜对比利时这个出了名的啤酒王国来说，建设这个管道并非是为了要方便各家接上水龙头。事实上，它是为了解决一个物流难题。In 2010, the brewery moved their bottling plant outside of the city. Being an older place with small, cobblestone streets, it's hard for tankers to get into Bruges to pick up beer and deliver it to the bottling plant.
2010年，啤酒厂将灌装基地搬迁到市郊。布鲁日是一个古城，街道狭窄，铺满鹅卵石，货车很难进入市内，并将啤酒运送到郊区的灌装基地。The other option was to move the brewery outside Bruges.
那么另一个解决方案就是将啤酒厂也搬到郊区。"We want to keep this last remaining brewery in Bruges, and therefore we need a pipeline," Vanneste said.
不过凡内斯特却表示，“我们还是想将这仅存的啤酒厂留在布鲁日，所以我们需要一个管道。”He started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the estimated $4.5 million pipeline -- offering rewards to those who've contributed to its construction.
据悉，凡内斯特针对这一耗资450万美元的工程发起了一个众筹项目，而那些捐款者将获得饮酒资格。One of the top donors is Philippe Le Loup, who runs the Poules Moules Restaurant. He's donated $11,000 -- and now gets free beer for life. "I like the beer," he said. "I drink it every day." But he also says he donated out of "friendship."
Poules Moules饭店的老板菲利普·卢普捐款最多，他出资1.1万美元，而他得到的奖励就是“一辈子免费喝啤酒”。他对此表示：“我喜欢喝啤酒。我每天都要喝。”不过他补充说道，这次的捐款完全是出于“友情赞助”。For those thinking about breaking in to the pipe, probably best not to try. Vanneste says he's pretty sure it's impossible to do it.
对于那些惦记着在管道上钻个孔的人，最好还是放弃吧。酒厂老板凡内斯特表示，他非常肯定你是办不到的。
