Channel
Tunnel
The
world’s longest undersea
tunnel runs under the English Channel, between England and France. It
is an
amazing engineering achievement. The tunnel sometimes called the
Channel, is
just over 50 kilometers long and runs for 38 kilometers under the sea
bed. The
Seikan Tunnel in Japan is slightly longer, but runs under more land and
less
sea. The Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994 as part of an up-to
–date transport
system linking Britain with the Continent.
CONTINENTAL
LINK
For the last 200 years,
engineers have made many suggestions for a cross-Channel link. A tunnel
was
first proposed in 1802, and a Channel Tunnel Committee was formed as
long ago
as 1872. Some engineers have even considered building a bridge across
the
Channel. But it was not until 1985 that the British and French
governments
asked companies to draw up serious plans for a tunnel. A year later
they chose
the best of the nine schemes they received.
DIGGING
THE TUNNEL
The Channel is, in fact, three
tunnels - two rail tunnels and a smaller service tunnel. Digging began
from the
English side in December 1987, and from the French side three months
later.
Huge machines with revolving cutting heads took a month to dig each
kilometer.
Altogether the tunneling took three years.
BREAK
THROUGH
The tunnels were bored at an
average depth of 45 meters beneath the sea bed. When the two halves of
the
service tunnel were just 100 meters apart, a small tunnel was dug by
hand to
connect them. Workers broke through art the end of 1990. The
breakthroughs of
the two rail tunnels took place on 22nd May and 28th
June
1991.
READY
FOR USE
Seven months later all three
tunnels were connected, ready to be cleaned up and have railway tracks
laid. At
the same time, engineers were working on the rail terminals at
Folkestone, in
England, and near Calais in France. The Channel Tunnel was opened by
Queen
Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand on 6th May 1994.
SUTTLE
SERVICE
Cars, coaches and Lorries use the tunnel's
shuttle service like a moving motorway. They drive on to a carriage at
one end,
and off at the other after a 35 minute trip. Electric locomotives drive
the
shuttles at up to 160 kilometers an hour. Special high-speed trains
also carry
passenger’s non-stop between London, Paris and Brussels.