 The
Channel Tunnel or ‘Chunnel’ is a 32 mile
long connection passage located underneath
the English Channel
 Connects Dover, England to Calais, France
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The modern idea of a tunnel between the two countries
dates back to 1802 when Albert Mathieu formally presented
the idea after taking a hot air balloon over the channel.
His vision was a tunnel with horse-drawn carriages,
illuminated with oil lamps
At the center of his grand vision was a man made island midchannel for changing horses.
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The idea was revisited many times during the 1800’s as
geologists surveyed the floor of the channel for the ideal
place to build a tunnel.
In 1881 the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company
began digging on both sides of the channel using the first
modern boring machine.
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The AFRC tunneling experiment proved to be very effective.
A nearly 2 km tunnel with a seven foot diameter was created
on the English side, while a 1.5 km tunnel was started in
France.
But cultural issues, political pressure and logistical problems
halted this attempt.
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The idea of the Chunnel continued to be discussed
throughout the 20th century
But attempts to resume digging were always halted by
political fear of strategic disadvantage in war.
France and England discussed building the Chunnel to
strengthen their alliance after WWI.
English scientists later feared that the Germans could
attempt to build a Chunnel to invade England during WWII
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In 1974, almost 30 years after WWII, England and France
came to an agreement and construction resumed on both
sides of the tunnel.
The plan called for two large scale tunnels around a
smaller service tunnel. The eventual final design.
But in 1975 tunneling was halted again in England.
With the English economy struggling, the Labour party
didn’t feel such a large scale public project was worth the
expense.
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In 1981 English prime minister Margaret Thatcher and
French president Francois Mitterrand agreed to resurrect
the project but under the concept that it could only be
done as a privately funded project.
In February 1986 England and France entered into the
Treaty of Canterbury which drew a formal border on the
English Channel between the two countries. This treaty
was designed to initiate the project.
Negative stakeholders, primarily English ferry boat
companies, protested and further delayed construction
into 1987.
BOT: Build Operate and Transfer (after 55 years)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/build–operate–transfer
English Staging Area
French Staging Area
Train Door Redesign
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The Eurotunnel plan was unprecedented. It aimed to use
to lessons learned from previous attempts to build the
biggest private construction project of all time.
Contractors would tunnel from both sides of the channel
simultaneously. (32 miles total, 23 miles underwater)
They used the survey from the 1881 Anglo-French Railway
Company to determine its route through a base of chalk
that would hopefully prevent water seepage.
It also incorporated the 1975 scheme of 3 tunnels(2 train,
1 service).
The Boring Machine
 Bank
 Too
investment forecast issues
many contractors
Too many moving parts
 Two
Governments + Financiers
 June
1988 – Construction Begins in France
 Dec.
1988 – Construction Begins in England
 Oct.
30, 1990 – Breakthrough Point
 July
1991 – All three tunnels complete
 May
1994 - Dedication
 July
1994 – Opens to the public
 Final
cost $14.9 Billion
 Most Expensive Private Construction Project
in World History
 80% of cost overruns caused by poor planning
at inception phase
 Interest costs through 2013 have pushed the
cost over $20 Billion
 The Chunnel will NOT be profitable in the
lifetime of its investors
 The
modern marvel of our lifetime; like the
Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China
 31 million people ride it every year
- 1000 cars per hour
 It only takes 3.5 hours to travel from Paris to
London
 The Chunnel may outlive human civilization,
proving to future life that we were here
Chunnel Video Link
References:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juLq4RyXTAI - 'Modern Marvels' Documentary
http://faculty.csuci.edu/minder.chen/project/reading/Chunnel_Project_FTA_Final.pdf
http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/
http://raileurope.com/blog/12355-chunnel-facts-london-paris
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/channel.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel