What is the length of the Channel Tunnel? Tunnel under the English Channel. Technical details of construction

The English Channel is a strait between two European countries - England and France. In 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened - the greatest engineering structure. Its total length is more than fifty kilometers, thirty-eight kilometers are laid under water. The creation of this unique structure has a long history. In 1802, the French architect Albert Mathieu developed a project for the construction of a bridge, and a year later a similar plan appeared in England.

In fairness, it must be said that in those days there was no talk about the need for a tunnel under the English Channel, the construction of a bridge over the strait was discussed. It was supposed to be a huge structure, consisting of spans five kilometers long, suspended on especially strong cables. The idea was rejected; experts were alarmed by the scale of construction. Until this time, bridges of this size had not yet been built.

Until the mid-twentieth century, engineers and scientists from the two countries developed projects and plans. They started thinking seriously about building a Channel Tunnel in 1955. And they not only thought about it, but also began construction, dug pits, but the energy crisis forced the construction to be mothballed for eleven long years, when the governments of the two countries announced their intention to continue work. True, the agreement stipulated that only private companies could build on both sides at their own expense.

Nine of the most worthy projects were selected and carried out throughout the year.

Negotiation. In a year best project was chosen. At first it was planned to build two railway lines in the tunnel, and next to them a highway, but the idea of ​​​​building a road tunnel under the English Channel had to be abandoned.

The arguments were very convincing: a vehicle accident in a tunnel is much more likely than a train crash, and its consequences can paralyze traffic in it for a long time. In addition, the mass of cars on both sides would lead to gas pollution in the tunnel, and in order to get rid of it, the construction of a powerful ventilation system would be required.

Since everyone knows that driving in a tunnel tires the driver, it was decided to go with a design written in 1960 and finally finalized in the 70s. Work began first in England, and three months later in France. Huge specialized machines worked at a speed of one kilometer per month. The work was carried out at a depth of forty-five meters

The completion of the Channel Tunnel railway tunnels occurred in June 1991. But the construction was not completed. It was also necessary to dig a service or operational tunnel, and lay rails in two. As a result of a competition in which more than 2,000 companies participated, Russian construction organizations received the order.

The Channel Tunnel officially opened in 1994. French President Mitterrand also took part in the solemn event. There are 3 tunnels built under the English Channel - 2 railway tunnels, through which trains travel in two directions. The third is service: it performs operational functions.

The North and South tunnels were completed on May 22, 1991 and June 28, 1991, respectively. Equipment installation work followed. On May 6, 1994, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and French President François Mitterrand officially opened the tunnel.

The Eurotunnel is a complex engineering structure, including two circular track tunnels with an internal diameter of 7.6 meters, located at a distance of 30 meters from each other, and a service tunnel with a diameter of 4.8 meters located between them.

The journey from Paris to London takes two hours and 15 minutes, and from Brussels to London two hours. Moreover, the train stays in the tunnel itself for no more than 35 minutes. Eurostar has carried more than 150 million passengers since 1994, and passenger numbers have been growing steadily over the past decade.

In 2014, 10.4 million passengers used Eurostar services.

The European Union has approved the takeover of Eurostar by the French railway operator SNCF. Once the deal is completed, SNCF will have to allow competing firms to fly the same routes.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

After many centuries of mistrust, which at times led to military conflicts, the French and English were finally united... by a common dislike of seasickness. The waters that have separated Britain from France for the past 8,000 years have been very capricious and have often made ferry crossings an ordeal for passengers.

However, the unshakable belief of the British Empire in the need to preserve this semblance of a giant fortress moat until recently forced travelers to choose the air route or swim, painfully hanging overboard. Britain's accession to the European Union marked the beginning of a new relationship between old rival neighbors. In an effort to overcome all obstacles on the path to unity, the countries began to develop a project that would forever link their shores. Received different offers: construction of a tunnel, a bridge, a combination of both. In the end the tunnel won.

The main argument in favor of this decision was information received from geologists. They found that underwater the two countries were already connected by a layer of chalk-marl rock. This soft limestone rock was ideal for tunnel construction: it is quite easy to mine, has high natural stability and water resistance. Many wells drilled at the bottom of the English Channel and advanced acoustic sounding technology have given geologists the opportunity to obtain fairly accurate data about the underwater relief of the strait and the geological structure of its bottom. Using this information, engineers decided on the tunnel route.

To better control traffic flow, as well as avoid the huge ventilation problems that would inevitably arise in a 39-kilometer road tunnel, engineers opted for a rail tunnel. Now instead of a ferry Cars and the trucks board special freight trains that transport them to the other side of the strait. Regardless of the weather, the crossing from terminal to terminal takes 35 minutes, of which only 26 will be spent in the tunnel. Another train called the Eurostar transports passengers from central London to the center of either Paris or Brussels in just over three hours.

One of the greatest structures of the 20th century, the Channel Tunnel, is actually a complex system consisting of three “galleries” that run parallel to each other. Trains travel from England to France through the northern tunnel, and back through the southern tunnel. Between them there is a narrow technical tunnel, the main function of which is to provide access to the working tunnels for routine repairs. It is also intended for the evacuation of passengers. Increased air pressure is maintained in the technical tunnel to prevent smoke or flames from entering if there is a fire in one of the main tunnels.

All three tunnels are interconnected by small passages located along the entire length of the structure at a distance of approximately 365 meters from each other. Two transport tunnels are connected to each other every 244 meters by airlocks. Thanks to the locks, the air pressure that arises under the pressure of the moving train is neutralized: the air in front of the train, without causing any harm to the train, flows through them into another transport tunnel. This reduces the so-called piston effect.

By this time, tunneling was carried out using special drilling rigs - tunnel boring complexes, or TPK. These are almost fully automated devices, a modern high-tech version of the Greathead shield. By punching a tunnel, the TPK leaves behind an almost completed structure - a cylindrical tunnel lined with concrete. In front of each TPK there is a working installation. It consists of a rotating rotor that literally “cuts” the rock.

The rotor is forcefully pressed against the face surface by a ring of hydraulic cylinders, which also direct its movement. Directly behind the drill head there are hydraulic spacer cylinders. They press giant spacer plates against the walls, against which they push the cylinders and rotor away. Behind the working unit there is a control panel, from where the TPK operator monitors the progress of the drill head. Thanks to the laser navigation system, the complex absolutely adheres to the given direction.

The largest TPK rotor has a diameter of about 9 meters and rotates at a speed of two to three revolutions per minute. The rotor is reinforced with chisel-shaped pointed teeth, or attachments with steel discs, or a combination thereof. Rotating, the rotor cuts out concentric circles in the lime-chalk rock. At a certain depth, the cut rock cracks and splits. The broken pieces fall onto the conveyor, which transfers the waste rock to the trolleys already waiting for it at the tail of the tunneling complex

The last element of the TPK that needs to be mentioned is the mechanical lining stacker.

He installs lining segments on the tunnel walls. Behind the working TPK there is a technical staff 240 meters away. It delivers lining segments, transports waste rock, supplies fresh air, water, electricity, providing workers with everything they need “on the job.”

So, the construction of the Channel Tunnel began with the construction of entrance shafts on both sides of the strait. Eleven TPKs and other equipment were lowered into them. After assembly, six TPKs, three each from England and France, began their journey under the strait in the hope of meeting safely under the water in the middle of the strait. The remaining five worked on land, designing the entrance areas of the future tunnel. The builders first planned to break through a technical tunnel - it was supposed to become a kind of “advanced landing force” in the overall system.

However, even with an arsenal of ultra-modern technical means, when breaking through the Eurotunnel, not everything went according to plan. Let's start with the fact that English TPKs were designed to work only in “dry” faces. Needless to say, when somewhere in the middle of the excavation the face began to flood with salt water entering through cracks in the rock, the builders had a very difficult time. The TPK on the British side of the working tunnel had to be stopped. Engineers urgently decided how to stop the flow of water. As a result, they built something like a giant concrete “umbrella”, which prevented the tunnel from flooding. It took months to pump cement slurry into the resulting cracks. The tunnel ceiling above the TPC was then dismantled and covered with steel panels and a thin layer of shotcrete was applied to them. Only after this did work continue on the English side.

All three tunnels are covered with a circular concrete lining consisting of individual segments. The segment that “closes” each ring is smaller in size than the others and has a wedge shape. This form subtly reminds us that this modern design belongs to the oldest family of arches. Most of the lining segments are cast from reinforced concrete, with the exception of those installed in the transition tunnels and air vents - they are made of cast iron.

In October 1990, when the two parts of the technical tunnel under construction were separated by just over 90 meters, the TPK was stopped. To make sure that both halves of the tunnel were in line, a probe hole with a diameter of 5 centimeters was drilled on the English side. When she reached the “French” part of the tunnel, a narrow connecting corridor was cut between them by hand. It was then expanded to the required diameter using small mining machines. Six months later, the main tunnels were connected. The work ended in a very interesting operation from a technical point of view. Instead of spending effort and money on dismantling and extracting their drill heads to the surface, English engineers simply directed them down, and the mechanisms dug themselves last refuge. When the drilling equipment disappeared into the ground and the resulting depressions were filled with concrete, French TPKs passed above them into the English part of the tunnels.

When constructing any tunnel - especially if we are talking about a giant 50 kilometers long - you should carefully plan how the waste soil will be extracted and disposed of. The far-sighted British built a huge dam for these purposes, enclosing several sea lagoons not far from the entrance shafts of the tunnel. The spent soil was lifted up and poured into these lakes. Once dried, they increased the territory of Great Britain by several hundred square meters. The French were less fortunate - they had to deal with much big amount soil. They mixed it with water and pumped it into a lake located 2.5 kilometers from the shore. When the lake dried up, the resulting plot of land was sown with grass. The area of ​​the country, alas, remained the same, but one green corner became larger.

To ensure uninterrupted train movement 24 hours a day, even if part of the route had to be temporarily closed, two intersecting crossings were built in the main tunnels, they are also called passing chambers. They are located approximately a third of the way from each bank. Thanks to them, the train can always bypass the blocked section through another tunnel, and at the next junction return to the original track. This, of course, slows down the movement somewhat, but under any circumstances, except for the most extreme cases, the Channel Tunnel will work!

The patrol cells were built very large - about 150 meters long, 20 meters wide and 15 meters high each. To strengthen their structure, the rock around the siding chambers was reinforced with shotcrete and 4-6-meter steel rods - anchor bolts.

During the construction of the chambers, workers installed them in the chalk rock measuring instruments allowing you to monitor the condition of the soil. If a problem was discovered, the thickness of the skin or the length of the anchor bolts was increased. During construction work communication with the cameras was carried out through a technical tunnel: everything was delivered through it necessary materials, equipment and removed waste soil.

Massive shutters were installed in the completed traveling cameras. They must prevent the spread of fire in the event of a fire; they are also used to independently supply air to each of the tunnels. The gates open only when the siding needs to be used.

After all the tunnels were completely punched, work continued for another two years. Workers laid many kilometers of cables for security systems, signaling, lighting and pumping equipment. Two pipes were installed through which cooled water was constantly supplied to reduce the air temperature in the tunnel, which increased due to the movement of high-speed trains. All equipment, including the trains themselves, has been tested many times.

By the end of 1993, construction of the Eurotunnel was completed. And in May next year this most expensive engineering facility in the history of mankind began to operate.

David McAuley. How it was built: from bridges to skyscrapers.

I would like to immediately apologize for the quality of the photos. Most of the photos were taken from a tinted bus window. Believe me, it is very difficult to achieve good quality and natural color rendering in such conditions.

An excellent telegram channel from the trip sponsor with a selection of cheap tickets - Hot flights

1. You need to go to the bus station 30 minutes before the bus departure to check your documents, tickets, and visas. This is all done when boarding the bus:

2. Departure for London at 11.00. The photo shows two MegaBus buses. Which neighbor leaves 30 minutes earlier to Amsterdam:

3. While there is time, I walked 200 meters from the station to rent a high-rise Hyatt hotel:

4. Let's take a look at our route. Google says 5 hours. Well, yes, plus we also have a tunnel and stops:

5. Let's go. River Sena:

6. We leave Paris. Many people don’t know that Auchan is a French chain:

7. My GoPro will record the entire journey. At the end of this post you will see a video:

8. Fields. It's already spring in France:

9. Small villages and fields again:

10. There are a lot of wind turbines. In general, this is very developed in Europe. The wind rose allows you to:

11. Look how well-groomed everything is:

12. Beauty:

13. Some houses resemble castles:

15. Views from the bridge:

17. Here is the bridge itself:

18. We approach the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer:

21. A lighthouse on the English Channel is already visible on the horizon:

22. We entered the city. Houses:

23. To us on A16 (Calais):

24. But first we have a short stop:

25. The driver changes here. I suspect this is related to driving on the left in England:

26. And we had a little time to take a few shots in the area:

27. We stood right where the buses are loaded onto the ferries. Here is the overpass:

If I had traveled by night bus, this is where our bus would be loaded onto the ferry across the English Channel. The daytime bus goes through the Eurotunnel.

29. I don’t know what kind of building this is. Reminded me of a military pillbox:

30. We entered Calais. We approach the French border:

31. On the left side of the board you can see the departure time for the Eurotunnel (more on that later):

32. We get on the bus and drive literally 500 meters. UK Border Post:

Everything is more serious here. The procedure is no different from entry control at any English airport. You need to fill out a migration card, answer the questions How are mr. Putin? related to the purpose of the visit and timing in the UK. After this, an entry stamp is placed.

Now the Eurotunnel. It is interesting to read its history and structure on Wikipedia. Personally, I had no idea that the Channel Tunnel was built only for trains. It turns out that if you are driving a car or bus through a tunnel, then the transport is loaded onto special closed railway platforms and you move on them in the tunnel.

33. Here is a satellite image of the railway junction in Calais (France). On the English side of the English Channel there is a similar knot:

34. Descent to the platform and railway platform on the left:

35. A bus with tourists enters the platform:

36. And in such a cozy atmosphere we move along the bottom of the English Channel for 39 km (25 minutes):

It's amazing that there is cell service. I immediately start posting photos on

The world's longest undersea tunnel runs under the English Channel and connects England with France. This is an amazing piece of engineering. The length of the tunnel is slightly more than 50 kilometers, 38 of which are laid under the seabed. The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994 as part of a modern transport system connecting Britain to the continent.

Over the past 200 years, many ways to cross the English Channel have been developed. The tunnel was first proposed in 1802, and a committee to create it was formed as early as 1892. Some engineers even talked about building a bridge over the strait. In 1985, the British and French governments invited companies to get serious about developing plans for a tunnel. A year later, they chose the best of 9 projects.

In reality, there are three tunnels: two railway and one service. Work began on the English coast in December 1987, and on the French coast three months later. Huge machines with rotating cutting heads took a month to lay every kilometer. In total, the construction of the tunnel took three years.

The tunnels were laid on average 45 meters below the seabed. When the two halves of the service tunnel were separated by only 100 meters, a small tunnel was dug by hand to connect them. Workers met at the end of 1990. The completion of the two railway tunnels occurred on May 22 and June 28, 1991.

After another seven months, the laying of all three tunnels was completed, and the laying of rails began. During this time, engineers were working on railway terminals at Folkestone, England, and near Calais, France. The tunnel was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand on May 6, 1994.

Cars use the tunnel trains as a moving highway. They enter the carriage at one end and exit at the other after a 35-minute journey. Electric locomotives reach speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour.