Channel Tunnel
The French Connection

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

In this course, we will examine the long struggle, dating back to the Napoleonic era, to create a “fixed link” between mainland Europe and the British Isles. This review will include the various schemes proposed, starting in 1802, which included tunnels and/or bridges, in particular those proposed by the “Father of the Tunnel,” Thome de Gamond, starting in the 1830s until his death in the early 1870s. The resistance to a fixed link whereby Great Britain’s “Splendid Isolation” could/would be compromised and the nation subjected to potential invasion, in the view of military leaders, from the early 19th well into the middle of the 20th century/s will also be highlighted. This discussion will include the various realized (i.e. Roman, Norman) and unrealized (French, German) invasion threat/s. As well, the geology of the British Isles, in particular the results of the last Ice Age whereby a land bridge that existed between the European continent and Great Britain was washed away resulting in the formation of the English Channel (a/k/a “Silver Streak”) and the ideal strata (chalk marl) and conditions below the bed of the channel for tunneling purposes will be of special interest.

The multiple false starts of the tunnel, starting in the 1870s and extending into the 1970s will be reviewed as will be the competition for a fixed link design which resulted in “Eurotunnel” being selected: a rail-only twin (bored) running tunnel design with a service tunnel in-between and loop terminals on either side of the Channel for shuttle (vehicles) train service. The signing of the Treaty of Canterbury, in 1986, and the commencement of tunneling operations resulting in the completion of the “Chunnel” in 1994 will be the focus of much discussion as will be the operations (i.e. security, maintenance etc.) of the Channel Tunnel. Initial passenger (Eurostar) train service between London and Paris and the expansion of service in the ensuing years will be discussed as will be the London (Waterloo) and Paris (Gare du Nord) terminal/s. The creation of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) between Folkestone and London allowing for high-speed service between London and the tunnel’s portal will be reviewed as will be the restoration/modernization of St. Pancras station as the new home for Eurostar service to/from London. Various other post-Chunnel sub-aqueous tunnel projects of note around the world and schemes for a second fixed link crossing of the Channel will also be highlighted and discussed.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Understand/appreciate the geological and fossil evidence of the existence of “Doggerland” and the chalk land bridge between the British Isles and mainland Europe during the last Ice Age;
• Understand/appreciate the formation of the English Channel at the end of the last Ice Age;
• Understand/appreciate the first proposal, in 1802, by M. Mathieu – a French mining engineer, to Napoleon for a tunnel under the Straits of Dover;
• Understand/appreciate the work of Thome de Gamond and his various fixed link schemes, starting in the 1830s through to the 1870s, that earned him the title: “Father of the Tunnel”;
• Understand/appreciate the various other proposed schemes made in the 19th century for Channel crossings;
• Understand/appreciate the significance of the formation of the Channel Tunnel Co. in 1875;
• Understand/appreciate schemes which proposed the creation of artificial islands in the Straits of Dover;
• Understand/appreciate the work of Sir Joseph Prestwich in defining the geology of the Straits of Dover;
• Understand/appreciate the nature of the strata belying the Straits of Dover and its suitability for tunneling purposes;
• Understand/appreciate the strategic value of the English Channel as a barrier to invasion;
• Understand/appreciate the various invasions of Britain by sea, starting with the Romans through to the Angles, Saxons and Normans;
• Understand/appreciate the unrealized invasion attempts of Britain by France and Germany;
• Understand/appreciate the proximity of Dover to France and its coming under shellfire of large caliber German guns during WWII earning it the nickname “Hellfire Corner”;
• Understand/appreciate the difference between an immersed tube and a bored tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the economic benefits to be realized by the creation of a fixed link;
• Understand/appreciate the history of Dover as a port city and railway service to/from London to Dover, starting in the mid-19th century;
• Understand/appreciate the failed attempt at a tunnel, starting in 1882 and concluding in 1883;
• Understand/appreciate the history of the Shakespeare Cliff worksite for the Channel Tunnel, starting in the early 1880s through to the mid-1990s;
• Understand/appreciate the various wars and political upheavals that prevented a fixed link scheme from being realized;
• Understand/appreciate the technology used (i.e. compressed-air drilling machines) used in the early tunneling attempts;
• Understand/appreciate the various schemes proposed to defend against invasion both during times of peace and war;
• Understand/appreciate other tunnels built in the late 19th/early 20th century/s and the technologies used to create them;
• Understand/appreciate early hydraulic tunneling machine designs;
• Understand/appreciate the “Entente Cordiale” which brought to an end hostilities between England and France and laid the groundwork for future cooperation for a fixed link;
• Understand/appreciate the problems associated with the various schemes for a bridge across the Dover Strait;
• Understand/appreciate the examples of the Tay and Forth of Forth bridge/s in Scotland as examples of the difficulties associated with spanning large bodies of water;
• Understand/appreciate the advantages unrealized during WWI had a Channel Tunnel existed in transporting troops and supplies efficiently to the Western Front;
• Understand/appreciate the hazards of navigation of the English Channel as the busiest shipping lane in the world and its reputation for difficult passage by boat;
• Understand/appreciate the various schemes proposed for a fixed link between the world wars;
• Understand/appreciate how a fixed link crossing of the English Chanel would fit in a scheme for an “All-Rail Route” between London and New York, first proposed in 1906;
• Understand/appreciate the geological similarities between the English and Dover Strait/s;
• Understand/appreciate the revised tunnel scheme of 1906-07 as proposed by Sir Douglas Fox and Albert Sartiaux;
• Understand/appreciate the history of train ferries;
• Understand/appreciate the use of cross passages in parallel bored tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the use of natural (i.e. piston effect) and artificial (i.e. ducted) ventilation in tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the use of drainage headings in tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the use of tunneling shields for bored tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the use of compressed-air in tunneling;
• Understand/appreciate the 1876 “Memorandum” which served as the basis for adoption of a treaty between Great Britain and France for an unrealized tunnel scheme ca. 1907;
• Understand/appreciate the revival and demise of a tunnel scheme immediately before the outbreak of WWI;
• Understand/appreciate the role of Lord Wolseley as antagonist of any tunnel or bridge scheme;
• Understand/appreciate the protests of railway and ferry interests to a fixed link crossing of the Channel;
• Understand/appreciate the proposals for an immersed tube (a/k/a “Trench Method”) Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the various schemes which proposed a tunnel resting atop the bed of the Dover Strait;
• Understand/appreciate the difficult crossing of the English Channel by boat/ferry due to its turbulent waters and the associated “Mal de Mer” (seasickness);
• Understand/appreciate alternate means of crossing the Channel (i.e. airplane, helicopter, hydrofoil);
• Understand/appreciate the creation of the world’s first mechanically ventilated sub-aqueous vehicular tunnel – the Holland Tunnel (1927);
• Understand/appreciate the first “Drive-and-Ride” proposals for a Channel Tunnel with shuttle service in the post-WWII era;
• Understand/appreciate the work/purpose of the Channel Tunnel Study Group in the 1960s;
• Understand/appreciate the evolution of TBMs and their extensive use in the construction of the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the use of laser guidance systems for TBMs;
• Understand/appreciate how the creation of the European Community (EC) and the UK’s participation accelerated the need to create a fixed link;
• Understand/appreciate how, by the mid-1950s, Harold MacMillan ended once and for all the old argument that a fixed link would subject Great Britain to invasion;
• Understand/appreciate the false start at a tunnel in the mid-1970s;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of both the Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel/s in the 1950s and ‘60s;
• Understand/appreciate “Night Ferry” service, starting in 1936 and ending in 1980, across the Dover Straits;
• Understand/appreciate the history of the various banks in the English Channel, in particular the Varne Bank;
• Understand/appreciate the concerns of a German tunnel dug in secret under the English Channel during WWII and British monitoring of the Channel for any evidence of tunneling;
• Understand/appreciate the method of lining the Channel Tunnel with reinforced concrete and/or cast-iron segments;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of Waterloo International station for initial Eurostar service through the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the various tunnel, bridge and hybrid bridge/tunnel schemes proposed and considered for a fixed link in the mid-1980s and the four short-listed schemes;
• Understand/appreciate the signing of the Treaty of Canterbury and Concession Agreement in 1986 which allowed for the commencement of operations for the creation of the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the consortium of French and British construction firms that would form a joint-venture to build the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the formation of “Eurotunnel”;
• Understand/appreciate the international border established at the mid-point of the Channel Tunnel/s;
• Understand/appreciate the private financing of the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the responsibilities of the French and UK governments concerning Channel Tunnel infrastructure;
• Understand/appreciate the various safety features of the Channel Tunnel (i.e. pressurized service tunnel);
• Understand/appreciate the use of a “wiggle survey” for proper alignment of the running tunnel/s for train operation;
• Understand/appreciate the use of pressure grouting in tunneling operations;
• Understand/appreciate the methods/equipment etc. used in removing spoil from the tunnel excavations and its use as fill for future parklands;
• Understand/appreciate the dangers involved in constructing the Channel Tunnel which cost eleven tunnel workers their lives;
• Understand/appreciate the use of pressure-relief ducts to mitigate the “piston-effect” of fast-moving trains in the running tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the use of Electric Multi-purpose Vehicles (EMVs) in the Service Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of deep vertical shafts on either shore for lowering the TBMs to the level of the tunnel/s;
• Understand/appreciate the worksites at Sangatte, in France, and Shakespeare Cliff, in Kent;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of Samphire Hoe – a nature reverse, as a result of the tunneling operations on the British side;
• Understand/appreciate the unexpected water infiltration problems encountered on the British side of the Channel Tunnel and how it was dealt with;
• Understand/appreciate the “Fosse Dangard” – a dip in the sea floor on the British side of the tunnel, and how it was dealt with;
• Understand/appreciate the difficulties encountered on the French-side of the Chanel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of the two shuttle terminals, their infrastructure, operations etc.;
• Understand/appreciate the significance of the December 1, 1990 “breakthrough” of the Service Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the origins of the term “Chunnel”;
• Understand/appreciate the financial difficulties encountered and overcome during the construction of the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the integration of the Channel Tunnel with high-speed rail networks in Europe;
• Understand/appreciate British unrealized fears of what the opening of the Channel Tunnel would mean to English culture/values/lifestyle etc.;
• Understand/appreciate the economic impact of the Channel Tunnel on Channel ports such as Ramsgate and Harwich;
• Understand/appreciate the French-side of the Channel Tunnel as vulnerable to striking workers, illegal immigrants seeking to reach the UK etc. and its disruption to train service through the tunnel/s;
• Understand/appreciate disruptions of Channel Tunnel train service caused by fires;
• Understand/appreciate the key role/s of Alistair Morton and Andre Benard in the management of the Channel Tunnel during and after its creation;
• Understand/appreciate the Eurotunnel Exhibition Center/s role in educating the French and British public;
• Understand/appreciate security/anti-terrorist measures - seen and unseen – that are part of the operation of Eurotunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the purpose/operations of the Rail Traffic Management (RTM) and Engineering Management  System (EMS);
• Understand/appreciate unique design/requirements of locomotives traversing the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the transport of cars, buses and trucks through the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the need/purpose/design/construction of the two “crossovers” in the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the problem/mitigation of “aerodynamic heating” in the running tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the ventilation infrastructure on the Samphire Hoe site serving the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the need/purpose for “SAFE” stations in the Channel Tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the transformation of St. Pancras – an underused railway station in the heart of London, into the new terminal for Eurostar train service to/from the continent;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) allowing for high-speed Eurostar service between London’s St. Pancras International station and the Channel Tunnel portal/s in Folkestone;
• Understand/appreciate the extension of high-speed rail service beyond London;
• Understand/appreciate the Euroroute bridge/tunnel scheme;
• Understand/appreciate the LinkToEurope bridge scheme;
• Understand/appreciate the revival of a scheme to provide a second fixed link in the form of a bridge as proposed by British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in January 2018 and the public reaction to it, both pro and con;
• Understand/appreciate post-Channel Tunnel bridge and tunnel projects around the world spanning long over/underwater distances;
• Understand/appreciate the legacy of the Channel Tunnel to tunnel design and world commerce.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the creation of one of the greatest civil engineering projects of all time, the Channel Tunnel.

Course Introduction

The course includes an in-depth slideshow (PowerPoint) presentation and the viewing of documentary films.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:

Channel Tunnel: The French Connection (printable handout in PDF, 27 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)
Channel Tunnel: The French Connection (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 75 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

Archival/Documentary Film:

TITLE: The Chunnel – World’s Longest Underwater Tunnel (Modern Marvels)
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqY4qFY6pZc
DURATION: 44:34
TITLE: Building the English Channel Tunnel
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKVVPVwALbY
DURATION: 32:25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2X3Z_dYvew
(Step-by-Step Drive-Thru Guide to Eurotunnel Check-in at Folkestone - 09:27)

Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Course Summary

It was a dream that took nearly two centuries to be fully realized, but realized it was in 1994 when the Channel Tunnel opened for business and the world took note of the accomplishment.  Despite the difficulties encountered, engineering and otherwise, the Channel Tunnel has proven itself to be the vital link between the UK and its European neighbors its promoters promised it would be. Nineteenth century fears of French cavalry storming through the tunnel portal have given way to people using the tunnel for both business and pleasure, not war and conquest. The Channel Tunnel set the “Gold Standard” by which long, sub-aqueous railway tunnels are designed and built. Perhaps the fact that a second, vehicular, “fixed link” crossing of the English Channel is now being taken seriously by both French and British politicians is proof-positive of the success of the enterprise. The Channel Tunnel is not only a triumph of the engineer’s art/science, it’s also a triumph of the human spirit of cooperation when a greater good is the end result.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

Websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Canterbury

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransManche_Link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_railway_station

Films

https://archive.org/details/TheNightmareOfTheSubmarineTunnel
(The Nightmare of the Submarine Tunnel – 19:24)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=1xFrAzEE7Ro
(Night Ferry – 05:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_PM3_b4m4
(Eurotunnel Exhibition Centre [1990] – 05:25)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3rsbN7PH8&t=8s
(Eurotunnel Travel – 25:24)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS-Q7ixjl0M
(Superstructures – Eurotunnel – 51:45)

Megastructures – Channel Tunnel Documentary:
Part 1 (15:01): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ccoG51o-8
Part 2 (15:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWiUkJ9Mk0
Part 3 (15:01): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GW-9FHQ3_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjYKoJw5DM
(New Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Opened [1964] - 01:06)

https://archive.org/details/TheTransatlanticTunnel1935
(The Transatlantic Tunnel [1935] – 1:32:59)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cb6CRJwixw
(Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link – 04:03)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=gd6GxtMdSuA
(Bering Strait Tunnel – 08:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52g9ESmr6Ug
(Q: Who Made the Channel Tunnel Meet in the Middle - 05:06)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCT-FurFVLQ
(Film: Norway's $47 BN Coastal Highway - 07:29)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dStITCgn73w
(Film: Crossing an Ocean: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge - 05:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cp1Rh-FNOc
(Film: How Tunnels Are Made Safe - 47:18)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRhkTNihlE
(Film: German Artillery Targets England - 06:36)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE2MSXM1OpI&t=259s
(Film: Dirty Great Machines - Tunnel Boring Machines - 45:07)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgq8KNl0mfs
(The Channel Tunnel: Planned Since 1802 - 20:21)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hupaOp54bmk
(Russia's Insane Plan to Build a Superhighway to America – 05:48)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ki6AWh_zQ
(Transatlantic Tunnel [Movie 1935]– 1:32:39)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfX-jdvOK0Y
(Eurotunnel Documentary – 47:00)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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