A tunnel under the Channel ? A dream come true...

The Tunnel is the biggest European project ever. Dug fifty metres under the bottom of the North Sea, the 50 kilo- metres long tunnel has cost about 16 billion € and has required 8 years of non-stop work for 13000 workers. He- re’s the history of this marvellous , pharaonic project, a two hundred years old dream … come true!

Few people know that the first link between France and Britain was actually suggested in 1802 when Albert Mathieu imagined the creation of a mid-Channel artificial island . This idea never got off the ground but the seeds were planted for more attempts in the future.

On the 26th January 1843, 185 barrels of gunpowder were used to destroy a large section of the cliff, to provide a platform to the railway go- ing from to Folke- stone. In 1880 Colonel Beaumont started digging from Shakespeare cliff using his compressed air machine, the enterprise then came to a halt, mainly because the local authorities were afraid of a French invasion through the tunnel.

For the next 170 years there were many controversial talks about security and the British government were very appre- hensive about an opening of the country’s borders and the potential problems it might bring. However, the first actual construction of a began in 1974 when work from both the French and the British side began. Unfortunately the British government had a change of mind shortly after work began and the project was cancelled for “financial reasons”. 1985 was THE year many people had been waiting for when the UK and French governments invited submissions for the new Channel Tunnel. After two years , the project began in 1987 and finally ended in 1993 when the Channel Tunnel was born, and connections between France and Britain changed forever.

It was decided that there would be three tunnels under the sea, two for the transport services and one to be used as a service tunnel – in fact a rescue tunnel as well. Nowadays there are three train services avai- lable within the Channel Tunnel : the Eurostar passenger train, the Euro shuttle (for road vehicles), and final- ly freight trains.

The first massive tunnelling machines were born in 1987 and by 1 December 1990, the first of the three tunnels was completed. The French and British workers (who were each working on their own side of the tunnel) broke through and joined the tunnels on what was an unforgettable day in the project. In 1991 the two adja- cent tunnels were completed and the project was now well underway.

The shuttle transporting cars, lor- ries , coaches and their passengers. Paris, France . 29 July 1987: Jacques Chirac waving to Margaret Thatcher after signing the Channel tunnel treaty. The agreement led to the start of work by both countries

Sangatte, France. 27 July 1987: At the bot- tom of a 55m diameter and 60m deep vertical well, 450 workmen took turns night and day. Eleven specially built tunnel borers (six Bri- tish and five French) made it possible to ad- vance up to 500m a month

Sangatte, France. 30 January 1988: The first of five tunnelling machines which were used to dig the Channel tunnel linking England to the European mainland. Each machine weig- hed 450 tonnes ! Channel tunnel. 1 December 1990: En- glish engineer Graham Fagg and Fren- chman Phillippe Cozette as the two sides of the Channel tunnel met.

Coquelles, France . 6 May 1994: President Francois Mitterrand and Queen Elizabeth officially open the tunnel

The SAMPHIRE HOE

Of course digging such a huge hole was an extraordinary challenge… but then came another one : the dump chalk , ex- tracted from the ground under the sea : 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk and rocks...

After considerable discussion and 60 proposed sites for disposal of the Channel Tunnel dump , it was decided that the option with the least environmental impact was to reclaim land at the base of Shakespeare Cliff, somewhere between and Dover. There was already access to the site from the Dover to Folkestone railway line and through a tun- nel in the cliff. The main advantages were no need for any transportation of the dump to another site and the creation of a large platform to be used as a work site. As the Tunnel boring Machines cut the chalk marl, it was loaded onto wag- ons, brought back along the tunnel and then moved onto the surface. Machines then moved it into artificial lagoons.

The Hoe has now become a touristic point of interest , offering wonderful sceneries and unforgettable view on the Cliffs. If you look east towards Dover, you will enjoy a nice view of the Shakespeare’s Cliff. People think this cliff has inspired a pass in William Shakespeare's tragedy, 'King Lear' - "there is a cliff, whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep..." . The name « Samphire Hoe » is the re- sult of a competition, organised by the Eurotunnel company to find a suitable name to their new born site. The « Rock Samphire » is a flower growing in the surroun- dings , once used to accomodate meat. A « hoe » is a part of land sticking out into the sea.

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