The Channel Tunnel 2019-20

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Over a century of history

From Napoleon’s time to the mid 19th century, many ideas or proposals for a fixed link
appeared. The first serious proposals to construct a rail tunnel between England and France date
from the 1850’s. During the 1870s, the Channel tunnel concept was enthusiastically promoted by
Edward Watkin, the chairman of the South Eastern Railway, and pilot tunnels extending almost
2Km from the English and French coasts were excavated in the early 1880s. But military
objections on British side proved to be an insurmountable obstacle and political factors were
again largely responsible for the abandonment of the project after further preliminary work
between 1973 and 1975. In April A firm decision to build a fixed link between England and
France was finally taken in 1986 and various designs were submitted, including proposals for a
bridge and for a drive-through tunnel and promoters were invited to submit scheme proposals.
Four submissions were shortlisted:
 Channel Tunnel, a rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel
group.
 Eurobridge, a 35Km suspension bridge with a series of 5km spans with a roadway in an
enclosed tube.
 Euroroute, a 21km tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges.
 Channel expressway, a large diameter road tunnels with mid-channel ventilation towers.

Fig 1.1 Proposals presented in 1985. Left: Eurobridge, Middle: Euroroute, Right: Channel tunnel

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The rail tunnel submission by Transmanche Link (TML) was in due course adopted and a 55-
year concession (subsequently extended until 2086) was awarded to TML and its close associate
Eurotunnel, the company which would manage and profit from the Tunnel on completion. It has
taken nearly 250 years to complete the fixed link between Britain and France. The Channel
Tunnel opened in 6th may 1994 and represents the remarkable feat of civil engineering: its
overall length exceeds 50Km, of which 37.9Kms are in submarine section. It is the only fixed
link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland.

1.2 Why not a Bridge?

De Gamond showed that the chalk measures underlying Kent and Nord/Pas Calasis also lay
beneath the seabed. Subsequent geological studies revealed that at an average depth of about
40m below the seabed, the chalk merged with clay to form an almost uniform stratum of chalk
marl, probably the best tunnelling medium in the world. This geology was one of the reasons
why the fixed link is a tunnel and not a bridge. The other reason is that the channel is the busiest
seaway in the world, with over 600 shipping movements each day. Any bridge or other structure
in the channel would almost certainly be rammed by a ship in due course. If anything, the risks
of such an accident would have been even greater during construction than during subsequent
operation.

1.3 Channel Tunnel Act 1987: Treaty of Canterbury

The Channel Tunnel act 1987 is an act of the parliament of the United Kingdom which
authorised the construction of the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France in
accordance with the Treaty of Canterbury, which was signed in 1986. An act to provide for the
construction and operation of a railway tunnel system under the English Channel, together with
associated works; to provide for connected improvements in the road network near Ashford, in
Kent, and in the rail network in south eastern England; to incorporate part of the railway tunnel
system into the United Kingdom and to provide for the application and enforcement of law in
relation to, and otherwise for the regulation of , that system and matters connected with it; to
provide for the construction of certain highways and associated works in the vicinity of
Folkestone; and for connected purposes.

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Fig1.2 The Channel Tunnel and the Eurostar rail network.

Vital Statistics

Location : Folkestone, England and Sangatte, France

Completion date : 6th May 1994
Cost : $21 billion
Overall length : 50.45 Km / 31.35 miles
Under sea length : 38Km / 24 miles
Purpose : Railway
Materials : Steel, concrete
Owner : Eurotunnel
Engineer(s) : Transmanche Link Engineering Firm (TML)s

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CHAPTER 2

PROJECT ORGANISATION

Eurotunnel

Eurotunnel is a bi-national company formed by Channel Tunnel Group (UK) and France Manche
S.A. (FR). It is owner and operator of the project, and client of the contractor TML.

Contracts

The concession agreement (March 1986) is awarded for 65 years by the governments of UK and
France to Eurotunnel. The construction contract between Euro-tunnel and Transmanche Link
(TML) sets out the terms for design, construction and commissioning of the fixed link.

TML, Channel tunnel contractor

Transmanche Link (TML) is the contractor responsible for the design, construction, and
commissioning of the project. Transmanche construction links 5 French companies and 5 British
companies. These 10 contractors have together an international experience of tunnelling and
mechanical/electrical engineering works representing thousands of kilometres.

Unprecedent Challenge

o 100 Billion Francs financial challenge

The client, owner and operator of the system, Eurotunnel had to be created and financed
through a pool of 203 different banks worldwide, using only private funds without any
government money. Insurances for work and completion, and multiple methods of
payments to manage technical risks added to financial complexity.
o Bi-national and human challenge
French and British Engineering methods and expertise had to be brought together,
integrating executives from 10 companies, incorporating and training 13,000 people
(5300 in France, 90% local, trained from basic to highly qualified level in 3 years), into a
single project team.

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o Fast-track programme
Design, construction and commissioning is to be completed within 8 years. 150Km of
tunnelling had to be completed in 4 years, fixed equipment installation within 2 years
after breakthrough and commissioning including rolling stock, within 1 year. This meant,
in less than 3 years, to:
- Create and organize TML, a company employing 13,000 persons with 10 Billion Francs
yearly turnover.
- Launch 11 TBMs with their logistics.
- Meanwhile, tunnel environment was sustained by temporary ventilation, drainage,
water, power, communication and monitoring systems were commissioned at the same
time.
o Design challenge
The scale of the design is massive. The project is contractually defined by the following
categories of performances: system throughput, performance of shuttle trains,
environment, safety and passenger’s evacuation and operational procedures.
o Connecting the Tunnels

One of the most difficult tasks on the Channel Tunnel project was making sure that both
the British and French side actually met up in the middle. Special lasers and surveying
equipment was used; however, with such a large project, no one was sure it would
actually work.

Since the service tunnel was the first to be dug, it was the joining of the two sides of this
tunnel that caused the most fanfare. On December 1, 1990, the meeting of the two sides
was officially celebrated. Two workers, one British and one French, were chosen by
lottery to be the first to shake hands through the opening. After them, hundreds of
workers crossed to the other side in celebration of this amazing achievement. For the first
time in history, Great Britain and France were connected.

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CHAPTER 3

INFRASTRUCTURE
Main Railway Tunnel

The two parallel running tunnels are 50 kilometres long at 30m distance were bored in the rock
strata under the Channel at an average depth of 40 metres below the seabed. The two large
tunnels (7.6 metres diameter), excavated diameter is 8.8m. These are lined with high strength
precast concrete segments. Each running tunnels houses a single line rail track, overhead
catenary, power supply, Drainage, cooling pipes, two walkways and auxiliary services.

Service Tunnel

The service tunnel (4.8 metres diameter) excavated diameter is 5.8m. Located between the two
running tunnels, it provides access to these in both normal and emergency conditions. The
service tunnel transportation system includes 24 rubber tired vehicles rolling on cast-in-place
concrete, electronically guided by an embedded cable. It allows maintenance of permanent
equipments.

270 Cross-passages of 3.3m internal diameter, every 375m between service tunnel and running
tunnels which gives access to the service tunnel in case of emergency. The cross-passages are
also used for ventilation and maintenance service access. Every 200 meters, the two rail tunnels
are linked by 194 piston relief ducts (2.0m internal diameter). These are used for the regulation
of the air pressure in the tunnels.

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Geology & Surveying

Undersea crossovers / rock strata – chalk / chalk marl / gault clay depth beneath seabed –
average 25-45 meters. Satellite data from geophysical surveys provided information about the
geology and helped to determine the alignment and route of the tunnel. To maximise the
favourable ground conditions, the tunnels were excavated in the layer of chalk marl except for a
3-kilometer section on the French side.

Construction Sites

Sangatte – Construction site in France

In 1987, construction of the Channel tunnel began in France at Sangatte on the Nord-Pas de
Calais coastline at a location just over 3 kilometres away from the French terminal site at
Coquelles. A circular access shaft, 70 metres deep and 55 metres in diameter was excavated and
lined with concrete. A hanger like shed was built to shelter the shaft in the centre of the large
construction site, which also contained offices and a lining segment manufacturing factory. All
materials, workers and equipment were lowered down the shaft to the working platform at 47
metres, where the tunnel boring machines (TBM) could be assembled in dry conditions. From
this point, three machines excavated the undersea rail tunnels and service tunnel beneath the
seabed towards Kent and two boring machines began the drive underground and inland towards
the terminal site. One of these machines was then re-assembled to excavate the second running
tunnel, thus using only 5 machines on the French side. Gantry cranes with pulleys were used to
lower the TBM sections and subsequently the concrete lining segments.

Once the tunnelling began, construction trains with a variety of wagons were used to transport
the linings, the spoil and the workers. A railway control room at the top of the shaft regulated the
movements of all the construction trains. At the base of the shaft, a spoil treatment plant mixed
the waste rock with water before pumping it 500 metre to the disposal site at Fond Pignon. Once
the construction work was complete, the Sangatte shaft was transformed into a permanent feature
of the tunnel system, housing the ventilation and cooling system installations. The rest of the
construction site has been landscaped and rehabilitation work continues with environmental
monitoring of the Fond Pignon site.

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Shakespeare Cliff-Construction site in Great Britain

Construction work began on the British side at a platform located the foot of Shakespeare Cliff.
Situated between Folkestone and Dover on the Kent coast, this had been the site of a previous
tunnel attempt in 1974. The earlier tunnel workings were used as one of the two access shafts to
the underground workings, with a rack and pinion railway used to convey equipment and
materials to the marshalling area underground. The six TBMs were each assembled in a large
cavern area, over 20m metres high and equipped with overhead cranes for lifting the TBM
sections, which had first been excavated to accommodate the 8.6 metre diameter machines. From
this point under the platform at Shakespeare Cliff, three undersea tunnels were bored towards
France and three underground tunnels towards the terminal site at Folkestone.

The service tunnel machine on both sides bored in advance of the two running tunnel machines.
Probes on the service tunnel machine provided advance warning of difficult ground conditions
and the data obtained provided data on alignment and condition for the larger tunnel drives.

Terminal Sites

UK Terminal Construction

Work on the Folkestone terminal started

in 1988 with a major landfill
engineering project in order to provide
the level area needed for the railway
transport system. Constraints were
imposed by the geographical features-
the 140 hectares site lies at the foot of
the North Downs chalk escarpment and
to the south, the long narrow site is
bounded by the M20 motorway. The tunnel portals are located at a point to the west of Castle
Hill, just north of Cheriton and from this point the shuttle trains make their way on a loop track
to the platform area. The one-kilometre tunnel constructed by cut and cover method at the west
end of the site to accommodate the shuttle train loop track has two functions. It increases the
amount of space available for the other essential structures and road networks and it provides

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noise protection for the adjacent villages of Newington and Peene. A second acoustic and visual
barrier between the villages and the site was erected at the start of construction work in the form
of a 3 metre high earth bund. Major structures include the over bridges, access ramps and the
platforms where vehicles load into and unload from the shuttle trains. Buildings include a control
tower, frontier control buildings for French and British authorities, passenger and freight amenity
buildings, security and operation staff headquarters.

French Terminal Construction

The site chosen for the terminal at Coquelles, near Calais required a major drainage exercise and
millions of tonnes of earth were spread and compacted to lay the foundations for the 480 hectares
terminal complex. With no land constraints, the railway system stretches from the Beussingues
trench and loops around the terminal above ground before reaching the platform area. As large as
an airport, the terminal site contains 53 kilometre of railway track and 36 kilometres of road
network, in addition to the Eurotunnel head office, an additional control tower, passenger
terminal buildings and frontier controls. A separate terminal area contains all the freight
facilities. A striking feature is the viaduct across one of several Lakeland areas, which provides a
panoramic view for passenger vehicle travellers on their way to the tollbooths.

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Tunnel Boring Machines

The tunnel boring machines were specially designed for excavating the chalk marl rock which
geological surveys had shown to lie beneath the seabed along the proposed tunnel route. For
construction of the Channel Tunnel, Eleven boring machines were used to cut a round passage
through the earth by using their tungsten teeth to rotate and break the rock. The eleven machines
were each the size of two football fields and were able to cut through 250 feet of rock a day. Six
machines were placed on the British side of the project and five of them positioned on the French
side

Features of TBM:

The machine includes a large diameter auger (cut diameter 8.36m) and machine length (overall)
is 250m. A cutter head equipped with disc cutters. Grill bars on the face and the periphery of the
cutter head prevent ingestion of caving blocks. The machines can bore under dry conditions and
it can also bore under water pressure up to 10 BAR. A screw conveyor removes muck from the
cutter head cavity to the rear part of the shield. A twin piston discharger lower the muck and
water from the high pressure of the screw conveyor to the atmospheric pressure in the tunnel,
where it can be removed in rail muck cars.

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Precast concrete: Backbone of the Channel Tunnel

The channel tunnel rail link between Britain and France is got its shape and finish from
reinforced concrete. Brett concrete Ltd have supplied concrete and worked in partnership with
contractor. Most of the concrete is in the form of precast reinforced segments. The curved
segments are lifted and erected against the tunnel walls as the boring machines advance.

No. of rings to No. of segments Segment wall Ring length

be made in a ring thickness ‘mm’ ‘m’

Service tunnel
 Marine 13200 6 plus 1 key 270 1.5
 Land 4700 6 plus 1 key 410 1.5
Running tunnels
 Marine 26500 8 plus 1 key 270/360 1.5
 Land 9600 8 plus 1 key 540 1.5
Table 1 Schedule of precast concrete tunnel linings

During early production phase two particular problems were encountered with concrete mix.
These related to voids occurring below the reinforcement and production of satisfactory surface
finish to the moulded faces for the durability requirements. The problem of voids was overcome
by modifying the aggregate proportions by increasing some grit and reducing coarse zone.

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The final mix that was used throughout production is shown below

OPC - 310 Kg/m3

Processed Fine Aggregate - 130 Kg/m3
20mm Granite - 580 Kg/m3
10mm Granite - 454 Kg/m3
Processed Granite Fines - 780 Kg/m3
W/C Ratio - 0.35
Super plasticizer - 5.81 Kg/m3
The specification required a minimum concrete strength of 60N/mm2 and typical strength
achieved for production concrete was 70-7560N/mm2 at 28 days with further gain to 90-
9560N/mm2 at 90 days.

Fabrication of Reinforcement: It is necessary to provide steel reinforcement in such large

segments primarily to resist tensile bursting stresses near the articulated radial joints which cause
concentrations of the compressive hoop loads in the rings. This in turn raised the problem of
durability due to corrosion of the reinforcement, which was a serious concern in view of saline
nature of ground water expected in the undersea tunnels. In order to control the corrosion
problem the following measures were taken:

a) A concrete mix of exceptionally low permeability was provided.

b) Steel reinforcement was covered to 35mm.
c) Closed drainage paths were constructed for such water that may penetrate the joints
between segments.
d) Reinforcing cages were fabricated by welding.
e) All surfaces were coated with a bituminous paint.

Production process: The moulds travelled through the work station for stripping, cleaning,
placing reinforcement, fitting inserts and concreting. Before moving to the curing tunnel where
they were steam cured at 50̊ C for six hours before being lifted from the mould at 10N/mm2
compressive strength. The overall time from the placing of concrete to the lifting of the segments
from the mould was nominally 7 hours.

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Fixed equipment

The fixed equipment installed after completion of the tunnels had to fulfil the following
functions:

1. Electricity supply for trains and auxiliary equipment

The power required for the trains and auxiliary equipment is supplied by two principal
power stations at each terminal and linked to the national 400KV networks. Each network
supplies half the requirement but each is capable of supplying all the power necessary for
the whole system
2. Electricity supply for catenaries

The catenaries supply the power necessary for the shuttle trains and the through trains.
The overhead power lines supply 25Kv-one of the most powerful 25Kv catenary systems
in existence.

3. Control and communications systems

All the control and communications systems are carried in three fibre-optic cables. These
high capacity cables transmit digitally all the data for rail traffic management and all the

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electrical and mechanical plant in the tunnels. Speech communications are also
transmitted by cable but, in addition, there are independent radio systems including
concession radio, track-to train radio and shuttle internal radio. The Control and
communications systems constantly monitors 2,700 telephone sets, 4,400 loudspeakers
and 1,200 fire detectors.

4. Tunnel ventilation

All trains using the tunnels have electric traction so there is no engine exhaust pollution.
The service tunnel vehicles have diesel engines designed to give very low emissions. Air
is pumped into the service tunnel from ventilation buildings at Shakespeare Cliff and
Sangatte. The service tunnel acts as the supply duct for normal ventilation. Air handling
units located above the doors of the cross-passages every 375 meters control the flow of
air from the service tunnel to the railway tunnels.

5. Drainage systems

The drainage system of five pumping stations permits the removal of water from the
tunnels. Water from normal seepage is directed via channels into storage tanks or sumps
at lowest points and discharged by pipeline to the pumping stations.

6. Fire fighting

Smoke detectors are installed in all the technical rooms located within the cross passages.
Automatic extinguishing devices and remote control cut-off systems are also installed. A
dedicated water supply line in the service tunnel is fed storage tanks and pumping
stations at the portals. This line feeds the fire hydrants in the cross passages and in the
running tunnels.

7. Tunnel cooling systems

The temperature in the tunnels is maintained at an acceptable level of 25̊ C by the

circulation of refrigerated water in each section of tunnel via a discharge and a return
pipe. Refrigeration plants at the former construction sites of Shakespeare Cliff and
Sangatte provide the chilling and circulations systems.

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8. Service tunnel equipment

On each side of the service tunnel, technical rooms contain all the necessary electrical
and technical rooms for the equipment requirements in the service tunnel.

Service offered by Tunnel:

Traffic through the Channel Tunnel falls into three distinct categories:

- The shuttle service (le shuttle) between Folkestone and Calais.

- Passengers without vehicles use the Eurostar service.
- Freight services.

Shuttle trains: Cars, coaches and Lorries are directed into appropriate lanes before arrival at the
tollbooths, where tickets are purchased. Lorries follow a separate route to areas where travel
facilities and customs clearance for freight are located, before following signs to the loading
platforms. Drivers of passenger vehicles may visit the passenger terminal buildings for
refreshments or shopping facilities or they may proceed directly towards the allocation zones
where signs indicate a designated loading platform. Vehicles then travel onto the over bridges
and down the ramp to the platform and into the shuttle train.

Passenger traffic volumes: Total cross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked at 18.4 million in
1998 then dropped to 14.9 million in 2003, from then rising again to 17.0 million in 2010. At the
time of the decision about building the tunnel, 15.9 million passengers were predicted for
Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the first full year, actual numbers were a little over
2.9 million, growing to 7.1 million in 2000, and then dropped again to 6.3 million in 2003.
However, Eurostar was also limited by the lack of high speed connection on the British side.
After the completion of High Speed 1 to London in two stages in 2003 and 2007, traffic
increased.

Freight traffic volumes: Cross-tunnel freight traffic volumes have been erratic, with a decrease
during 1997 due to a closure caused by a fire in a freight shuttle. For freight transported on
through freight trains was 1.3 million gross tonnes. Through freight volumes peaked in 1998 at
3.1 million tonnes. However, with continuing problems, this figure fell back to 1.21 million
tonnes in 2007. Numbers fell back in the wake of the 2008 fire.

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Major Impacts

The Channel Tunnel as a potential catalyst for Regional Economic Development:

 In the early-1990’s, there were high hopes that the construction of the Channel Tunnel
and its associated rail infrastructure would become a catalyst for regional economic
growth in Kent and Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
 Despite their favoured location within the central economic axis of Western Europe,
neither Kent nor Nord-Pas-de-Calais had matched the economic performance of more
dynamic region in France and the UK and, by the mid 1980s, GDP per capita in both
cases lay well below the West European average.
 The relatively poor economic performance of Nord-Pas-de-Calais can largely attributed
to structural factors associated with decline of the coal-mining, steel and textile
industries.
 Since the 1970s, the region has experienced very high rates of emigration and its share of
the French population fell from 7.44 per cent in 1975 to just 6.48 percent by 2008.
 The Kent coalfield ceased production in 1989 and traditional sea side holiday resorts
such as Margate, Ramsgate and Folkestone have struggled to compete with cheap foreign
package holidays.
 Kent and Nord-Pas-de-Calais have suffered as a result of their border location.
 However, with the inauguration of the single European market in 1993 and the opening
of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 it became possible to envisage a more optimistic scenario
in which Kent and Nord-Pas-de-Calais might at last be able to overcome the handicap of
peripherality and instead take full advantage of their strategic location at the geographical
heart of the west European economy.

Impacts on metropolitan areas beyond Kent and Nord-Pas-de-Calais

 The benefits of reduced journey times are likely to be concentrated on the major nodes
rather than on the intervening spaces between these.
 The high-speed rail link has also had a major impact on the changing geography of the
Thames Gateway.

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 A central aim of the strategy therefore was to diversify employment opportunities,

thereby reducing the marked imbalance in incomes between the west and east sides of
London.
 East London has also received a major boost as a result of London’s successful bid to
host

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