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84-528: Established by Thomas Meik in 1868, the company quickly became involved in the maritime and railway industries across the British Isles. During the first half of the 20th century, William Halcrow led the business into new avenues of civil engineering, including deep tunnelling and hydroelectric dams. Its expertise was harnessed in many capacities throughout the Second World War , highlights include

168-521: A land frontier between the two countries in the middle of the Channel tunnel—the first of its kind. Design and construction were done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte were done by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction . The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff were done by

252-409: A 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) diameter service tunnel in between. The three bores are connected by cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff and French access from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), and

336-515: A 55 m (180 ft) diameter 75 m (246 ft) deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side, a marshalling area was 140 m (459 ft) below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side, the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff—the same place as

420-484: A Frenchman, performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel between Calais and Dover. He explored several schemes and, in 1856, presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to East Wear Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank at a cost of 170 million francs , or less than £7 million. In 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed

504-437: A bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At that time, marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964–1965 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour; using 70 boreholes, an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour. Given

588-661: A few days later. Site investigation undertaken in the 20 years before construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl is conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. The chalk marl runs along the entire length of the English side of the tunnel, but on the French side a length of 5 km (3.1 miles) has variable and difficult geology. The tunnel consists of three bores: two 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in) diameter rail tunnels, 30 m (98 ft) apart, 50 km (31 miles) in length with

672-455: A fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators ( Sealink ) being state-owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987. Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but concerns about ventilation, accident management and driver mesmerisation resulted in the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project in January 1986. Reasons given for

756-544: A high-speed link to London. Successful tunnelling required a sound understanding of topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata through which to dig. The geology of this site generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. It has: On the English side, the stratum dip is less than 5°; on the French side, this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting are present on both sides. On

840-660: A new partnership with his sons. Work included the Scottish ports of Ayr , Burntisland and Bo'ness , and the firm acted as consulting engineers to the new dock at Silloth for the North British Railway . In 1880 he had offices at 6 York Place, Edinburgh . He retired in 1888 and died at his home in Newbattle Terrace in Edinburgh in 1896 aged 84, leaving his business in the hands of his sons, Patrick and Charles . He

924-460: A power station in Buenos Aires . The firm had several names during the 20th century, including CS Meik and Buchanan (1920), CS Meik and Halcrow (1923), WT Halcrow and Partners (1941), Sir William Halcrow and Partners (1944), and, finally, Halcrow Group (1998). By 2000, Halcrow Group's British-based projects accounted for roughly 60 percent of the company's turnover, while the remainder

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1008-542: A secured loan to the company in December 2012 without which there would have been doubt regarding the firm’s ability to continue as a going concern. On 2 August 2017, CH2M agreed to be purchased by Jacobs Engineering Group in a US$ 2.85 billion cash and stock deal. Shareholders approved the deal in December 2017, and the completion of the acquisition was announced on 18 December. Thomas Meik Thomas Meik ( ( 1812-01-20 ) 20 January 1812 – ( 1896-04-22 ) 22 April 1896)

1092-558: A similar machine to drill 1,669 m (5,476 ft) from Sangatte on the French side. However, the cross-Channel tunnel project was abandoned in 1883, despite this success, after fears raised by the British military that an underwater tunnel might be used as an invasion route. Nevertheless, in 1883, this TBM was used to bore a railway ventilation tunnel—7 ft (2.1 m) in diameter and 6,750 ft (2,060 m) long—between Birkenhead and Liverpool , England, through sandstone under

1176-419: A syndicated bank loan and letter of credit arranged £5 billion. Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2.6 billion. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4.65 billion: an 80% cost overrun . The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands. Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast. Working from both

1260-459: A working group to evaluate a privately funded project. In June 1982 the Franco-British study group favoured a twin tunnel to accommodate conventional trains and a vehicle shuttle service. In April 1985 promoters were invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted: The cross-Channel ferry industry protested using the name "Flexilink". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting

1344-512: Is an infilled valley system extending 80 m (262 ft) below the seabed, 500 m (1,640 ft) south of the tunnel route in mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel, and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus

1428-427: Is major water inflow due to the high hydrostatic pressure from the sea above, under weak ground conditions. The tunnel also had the challenge of timescale: being privately funded, an early financial return was paramount. The objective was to construct two 7.6 m-diameter (25 ft) rail tunnels, 30 m (98 ft) apart, 50 km (31 miles) in length; a 4.8-metre-diameter (16 ft) service tunnel between

1512-673: Is the third-longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section. The average depth is 45 m (148 ft) below the seabed. On the UK side, of the expected 5 × 10 ^   m (6.5 × 10 ^   cu yd ) of spoil approximately 1 × 10 ^  m (1.3 × 10 ^  cu yd)

1596-682: The American Society of Civil Engineers elected the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World . In 1995, the American magazine Popular Mechanics published the results. The opening was phased for various services offered as the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, the IGC, gave permission for various services to begin at several dates over the period 1994/1995 but start-up dates were

1680-659: The Channel Tunnel as well as various other railway projects, such as the Woodhead Tunnel and the Victoria line . By 2000, Halcrow Group's British-based projects accounted for roughly 60 percent of the company's turnover while the rest came from its overseas activities. During 2011, the company was acquired by US firm CH2M Hill , and in 2013 it was announced that the Halcrow brand would eventually be discontinued. The parent rebranded

1764-684: The Chunnel , is a 50.46 km (31.35-mile) undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone ( Kent , England) with Coquelles ( Pas-de-Calais , France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover . It is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland. At its lowest point, it is 75 m (246 ft) below the sea bed and 115 m (377 ft) below sea level. At 37.9 km (23.5 miles), it has

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1848-543: The Clywedog dam (completed in 1967), which created reservoirs that controlled the water levels of various rivers as well as reliably supplying various towns and cities across the West Midlands . Halcrow also designed several railway tunnels, such as the Woodhead Tunnel (completed in 1954) and at Potters Bar (completed in 1955), as well as starting work on the new Victoria line underground line beneath central London. Halcrow

1932-659: The LGV Nord in France and High Speed 1 in England. In 2017, rail services carried 10.3   million passengers and 1.22   million tonnes of freight, and the Shuttle carried 10.4   million passengers, 2.6   million cars, 51,000 coaches, and 1.6   million lorries (equivalent to 21.3   million tonnes of freight), compared with 11.7   million passengers, 2.6   million lorries and 2.2   million cars by sea through

2016-624: The Mersey River . These early works were encountered more than a century later during the project TransManche Link (TML). A 1907 film, Tunnelling the English Channel by pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès , depicts King Edward VII and President Armand Fallières dreaming of building a tunnel under the English Channel . In 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference , British prime minister David Lloyd George repeatedly brought up

2100-626: The Mulberry Harbours (used in the D-Day landings). The company also consulted on the bouncing bomb developed by Barnes Wallis and on damage control measures during The Blitz . After the conflict ended, Halcrow's attention was soon focused upon upon various schemes in Scotland. For the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board , a new generation of hydroelectric schemes to generate power for public consumption

2184-635: The New River Company , London. In 1845, at the age of 33, Meik was appointed engineer to the River Wear Commission (responsible for maritime works around Sunderland ). In 1859, the commission took over the construction of the Hendon Dock on the south side of the Wear, and Meik was responsible for the entire works (the task included a grain warehouse and a lighthouse – which, although relocated when

2268-634: The Port of Dover . Plans to build a cross-Channel tunnel were proposed as early as 1802, but British political and media criticism motivated by fears of compromising national security had disrupted attempts to build one. An early unsuccessful attempt was made in the late 19th century, on the English side, "in the hope of forcing the hand of the English Government". The eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel , began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. Estimated to cost £5.5 billion in 1985, it

2352-641: The Concession for the construction and operation of the Fixed Link by privately owned companies and outlined arbitration methods to be used in the event of disputes. It established the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the Tunnel's construction and operation on behalf of the British and French governments, and a Safety Authority to advise the IGC. It drew

2436-456: The English and French sides of the Channel, eleven tunnel boring machines (TBMs) cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (part of Folkestone ) and Coquelles, and are connected to the English M20 and French A16 motorways respectively. Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. At

2520-409: The English side six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue. Between the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is 50.5 km (31 miles) long, with 3.3 km (2 miles) under land on the French side and 9.3 km (6 miles) on the UK side, and 37.9 km (24 miles) under sea. It

2604-501: The English side, only minor faults of displacement less than 2 m (6 ft 7 in) exist; on the French side, displacements of up to 15 m (49 ft) are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold . The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remolded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of routes on the French side. To avoid confusion, microfossil assemblages were used to classify

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2688-461: The English side, the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs. Six machines were used; all commenced digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine-bound and three for the land tunnels. Towards the completion of the undersea drives, the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. These buried TBMs were then used to provide an electrical earth . The French TBMs then completed

2772-403: The French side, neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used; on the English side, the main requirement was for speed, so bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only done in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels, eight lining segments plus a key segment were used; in the French side, five segments plus a key. On the French side,

2856-573: The High School and University of Edinburgh , Thomas Meik worked for two years with a firm of millwrights named Moodie and was then apprenticed to John Steedman , an engineer and contractor who was working in Glasgow on the Hutcheson Bridge (designed by Robert Stevenson , grandfather of author Robert Louis Stevenson ). His first long-term post was as assistant engineer to William Chadwell Mylne of

2940-671: The Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone . A full public service did not start for several months. The first freight train, however, ran on 1 June 1994 and carried Rover and Mini cars being exported to Italy. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1 , runs 69 miles (111 km) from St Pancras railway station in London to the tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003

3024-564: The South Pier was shortened in 1983, still stands today). Just a few miles further north, he was also consulting engineer to Blyth Harbour from 1862. In 1868, he entered into partnership with William David Nisbet (1837-1897) in Sunderland and Edinburgh. Commissions included a rail freight link, the Hylton, Southwick and Monkwearmouth Railway , transporting coal from collieries sited along the line to

3108-589: The Thames estuary, which used Scottish granite aggregate delivered by ship from the Foster Yeoman coastal super quarry at Glensanda in Loch Linnhe on the west coast of Scotland. On the French side, owing to the greater permeability to water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were used in the closed mode for the first 5 km (3 miles), but then operated as open, boring through

3192-462: The acquisition of Halcrow in exchange for £124m. It was subsequently reported that Halcrow was effectively rescued by CH2M Hill, having incurred a pre-tax loss of £71m in its last year of independent trading (to 31 December 2011), on a turnover of £238m, down from £331m in 2010. Accounts lodged with Companies House showed that CH2M Hill's financial backing was crucial to Halcrow’s survival; the US firm agreed

3276-456: The area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits . The service tunnel acted as a pilot preceding the main ones, so that the geology, areas of crushed rock, and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing was done in the service tunnel, in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing. Marine soundings and samplings were made by Thomé de Gamond in 1833–67, establishing

3360-459: The business undertook the first of many international commissions. During the first half of the 20th century, William Halcrow (later Sir William) directed the company to diversify into other areas of civil engineering, including tunnelling and hydroelectric schemes. The company was called on for various projects during the Second World War , this included the design and supervision of the construction of deep tunnel shelters, military ports, and

3444-428: The chalk marl stratum. This minimised the impact to the ground, allowed high water pressures to be withstood and also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one mainland machine (the short land drives of 3 km (2 miles) allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On

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3528-463: The chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder, more brittle and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the two sides. The Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangeard, and Castle Hill landslip at the English portal, caused concerns. Identified by the 1964–1965 geophysical survey, the Fosse Dangeard

3612-421: The company reported a turnover of £468 million; by this point, projects undertaken outside the UK accounted for 48% of total turnover. It was long owned and managed by its employees and staff shareholders, Halcrow was operated as an independent concern up until late 2011. During September 2011, CH2M Hill announced it was set to acquire the company, and on 10 November 2011 CH2M Hill announced that it had completed

3696-434: The concerns of both nations' military leaders by designing two sumps – one near the coast of each country – that could be flooded at will to block the tunnel, but this did not appease the military, or dispel concerns about hordes of tourists who would disrupt English life. A British film from Gaumont Studios , The Tunnel (also known as TransAtlantic Tunnel ), was released in 1935 as a science-fiction project concerning

3780-520: The construction of the Mulberry Harbours and consulting on the bouncing bomb . In the peacetime, Halcrow worked with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board on a new generation of hydroelectric schemes to generate power for public consumption, such as the Glen Affric scheme , as well as numerous dams in Wales to regulate water levels and supply drinking water. It was also involved in the design studies for

3864-704: The creation of a transatlantic tunnel. It referred briefly to its protagonist, a Mr. McAllan, as having completed a British Channel tunnel successfully in 1940, five years into the future of the film's release. Military fears continued during World War II . After the surrender of France , as Britain prepared for an expected German invasion , a Royal Navy officer in the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development calculated that Hitler could use slave labour to build two Channel tunnels in 18 months. The estimate caused rumours that Germany had already begun digging. By 1955, defence arguments had become less relevant due to

3948-610: The dismay of their French partners, the then-governing Labour Party in Britain cancelled the project due to uncertainty about the UK's membership of the European Economic Community , doubling cost estimates amid the general economic crisis at the time. By this time the British tunnel boring machine was ready and the Ministry of Transport had performed a 300 m (980 ft) experimental drive. (This short tunnel, named Adit A1,

4032-639: The dominance of air power, and both the British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. In 1958 the 1881 workings were cleared in preparation for a £100,000 geological survey by the Channel Tunnel Study Group. 30% of the funding came from Channel Tunnel Co Ltd, the largest shareholder of which was the British Transport Commission , as successor to the South Eastern Railway . A detailed geological survey

4116-489: The five British construction companies in the Translink Joint Venture . The two partnerships were linked by a bi-national project organisation, TransManche Link (TML). The Maître d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored the project and reported to the governments and banks. In France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment,

4200-585: The ground conditions. There was plenty of experience with excavating through chalk in the mining industry, while the undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French one was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in Seattle ; the UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main ones, to avoid delay. Precast segmental linings in the main tunnel boring machine (TBM) drives were used, but two different solutions were used. On

4284-551: The idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend against another German attack. The French did not take the idea seriously, and nothing came of the proposal. In the 1920s, Winston Churchill advocated for the Channel Tunnel, using that exact name in his essay "Should Strategists Veto The Tunnel?" It was published on 27 July 1924 in the Weekly Dispatch , and argued vehemently against

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4368-720: The idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, William Ewart Gladstone . In 1866, Henry Marc Brunel made a survey of the floor of the Strait of Dover. By his results, he proved that the floor was composed of chalk, like the adjoining cliffs, and thus a tunnel was feasible. For this survey, he invented the gravity corer , which is still used in geology. Around 1866, William Low and Sir John Hawkshaw promoted tunnel ideas, but apart from preliminary geological studies, none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol

4452-482: The idea that the tunnel could be used by a Continental enemy in an invasion of Britain. Churchill expressed his enthusiasm for the project again in an article for the Daily Mail on 12 February 1936, "Why Not A Channel Tunnel?" There was another proposal in 1929, but nothing came of this discussion and the idea was abandoned. Proponents estimated the construction cost at US$ 150   million. The engineers had addressed

4536-447: The longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world and is the third-longest railway tunnel in the world . The speed limit for trains through the tunnel is 160 km/h (99 mph). The tunnel is owned and operated by Getlink , formerly Groupe Eurotunnel. The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle services for road vehicles and freight trains . It connects end-to-end with high-speed railway lines:

4620-446: The marine tunnels—not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives and, despite environmental objections, tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon, to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space, the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in

4704-642: The nearby port at Sunderland. The railway was subsequently acquired by the North Eastern Railway . However, later railway designs were to prove more successful for Meik. In Scotland he designed a rail link to Eyemouth , an extension to the Forfar to Brechin line, the Newburgh and North Fife Railway and the East Fife Central Railway. The partnership with Nisbet was dissolved in 1875 and Meik formed

4788-457: The peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring. A 50 mm (2.0 in) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990. On 1 December 1990, Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through

4872-543: The previous survey results and access constraints, a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972–1973 survey, and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte, a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff, the government allowed 250 m (820 ft) of 4.5 m (15 ft) diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially

4956-475: The prime minister, Tony Blair , opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007, the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station, replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station . High Speed 1 trains travel at up to 300 km/h (186 mph), the journey from London to Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes, to Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes. In 1994,

5040-410: The project came partly from provincial members of Parliament on the basis of promises of regional Eurostar through train services that never materialised; the promises were repeated in 1996 when the contract for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was awarded. The tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer ( BOOT ) project with a concession. TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing

5124-535: The project had widespread approval. The French National Assembly approved it unanimously in April 1987, and after a public inquiry, the Senate approved it unanimously in June. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings away from Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987, the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill took place in the House of Commons , and passed by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act gained Royal assent and passed into law in July. Parliamentary support for

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5208-479: The same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986–1987 survey, previous findings were reinforced, and the characteristics of the gault clay and the tunnelling medium (chalk marl that made up 85% of the route) were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed. Tunnelling was a major engineering challenge; the only precedent was the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan, which opened in 1988. A serious health and safety risk with building tunnels under water

5292-466: The seabed depth at a maximum of 55 m (180 ft) and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued for many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and more than 4,000   line   kilometres of the marine geophysical survey completed. Surveys were undertaken in 1958–1959, 1964–1965, 1972–1974 and 1986–1988. The surveying in 1958–1959 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs, as well as

5376-440: The selection included that it caused least disruption to shipping in the Channel and least environmental disruption, was the best protected against terrorism, and was the most likely to attract sufficient private finance. The British Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies, while their French counterparts, France–Manche , consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The banks' role

5460-428: The service tunnel with the media watching. Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time. (A BBC TV television commentator called Graham Fagg "the first man to cross the Channel by land for 8000 years ".) The two tunnelling efforts met each other with an offset of only 36.2 cm (14.3 in). A Paddington Bear soft toy was chosen by British tunnellers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when

5544-466: The tunnel and were dismantled. A 900 mm (35 in) gauge railway was used on the English side during construction. In contrast to the English machines, which were given technical names, the French tunnelling machines were all named after women: Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline, Séverine. After the tunnelling, one machine was on display at the side of the M20 motorway in Folkestone until Eurotunnel sold it on eBay for £39,999 to

5628-455: The tunnel, have prompted deterrence and countermeasures. In 1802, Albert Mathieu-Favier, a French mining engineer, proposed a tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island positioned mid-Channel for changing horses. His design envisaged a bored two-level tunnel with the top tunnel used for transport and the bottom one for groundwater flows. In 1839, Aimé Thomé de Gamond ,

5712-461: The two main ones; pairs of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)-diameter cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service tunnel at 375 m (1,230 ft) spacing; piston relief ducts 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter connecting the rail tunnels 250 m (820 ft) apart; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels, with the service tunnel always preceding the main ones by at least 1 km (0.6 mi) to ascertain

5796-414: The two sides met. The tunnel was officially opened, one year later than originally planned, by the French president François Mitterrand and Queen Elizabeth II , at a ceremony in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris. After the ceremony, President Mitterrand and

5880-408: The whole group to CH2M in 2015. Two years later, CH2M was subsequently acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group . The company was founded in 1868 by civil engineer Thomas Meik , and originally bore his name, and later those of his sons, Patrick and Charles . It worked extensively on port , maritime and railway projects across the North of England , in Wales and in Scotland . During the 1890s,

5964-419: Was a 19th-century Scottish engineer. He is particularly associated with ports and railways in Scotland and northern England, Meik fathered two prominent engineering sons: Patrick Meik and Charles Meik . The firm they founded remains active, today part of the Jacobs Engineering Group . He was born at Easter Duddingston on 20 January 1812, the son of Patrick Meik and his wife, Barbara Scott. Educated at

6048-624: Was also involved in the design studies produced for the Channel Tunnel . In the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster , Halcrow was engaged by the National Coal Board to monitor the condition of various colliery spoil tips across the country. The company's overseas work at this time included a wide range of roads, bridges and harbours in countries such as Ghana , Libya and Mozambique . Halcrow also worked on multiple dams in Venezuela , as well as

6132-480: Was at the time the most expensive construction project ever proposed. The cost finally amounted to £9 billion (equivalent to £22.6 billion in 2023). Since its opening, the tunnel has experienced occasional mechanical problems. Both fires and cold weather have temporarily disrupted its operation. Since at least 1997, aggregations of migrants around Calais seeking entry to the United Kingdom, such as through

6216-934: Was buried in Duddingston Kirkyard . The grave lies in the south-west corner. The firm they founded remains active. It was later known as Halcrow Group Limited , taking its name from Sir William Halcrow , who joined the company in the early years of the 20th century; Halcrow was acquired by US firm CH2M Hill in 2011, and in 2017 CH2M was acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group . He was married to Julia Hunter (1825-1911), daughter of Walter Hunter of Bow in Middlesex. Their children included Thomas Carsie Meik (1847-1894), Julia (died in infancy), Patrick Walter Meik MICE (1851-1910), Edward (died in childhood), Charles Scott Meik (1853-1923) and Henry Hunter Meik WS (d.1923). Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel ( French : Tunnel sous la Manche ), sometimes referred to informally as

6300-417: Was carried out in 1964 and 1965. Although the two countries agreed to build a tunnel in 1964, the phase 1 initial studies and signing of a second agreement to cover phase 2 took until 1973. The plan described a government-funded project to create two tunnels to accommodate car shuttle wagons on either side of a service tunnel. Construction started on both sides of the Channel in 1974. On 20 January 1975, to

6384-405: Was derived from its undertakings outside of the British Isles. By this point, the firm's consultancy work included a wide array of water, transportation, maritime, environment, power and property projects. Its customers included government departments, public sector authorities and utilities, industrial and commercial companies, international funding agencies and financial institutions. During 2008,

6468-487: Was developed. The Glen Affric scheme , started in 1947, was the biggest of these; however, there were similar projects in neighbouring catchments, such as Glen Garry and Glen Moriston – the latter including one of the first underground power stations in the UK – and Strathfarrar and Kilmorack. In Wales, Halcrow's largest works were typically related to water supply schemes, such as the Claerwen dam (completed in 1952) and

6552-529: Was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir Edward Watkin and Alexandre Lavalley , a French Suez Canal contractor , were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. From June 1882 to March 1883, the British tunnel boring machine tunnelled, through chalk, a total of 1,840 m (6,037 ft), while Lavalley used

6636-422: Was eventually reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side, and remains an access point to the service tunnel.) The cancellation costs were estimated at £17   million. On the French side, a tunnel-boring machine had been installed underground in a stub tunnel. It lay there for 14 years until 1988, when it was sold, dismantled, refurbished and shipped to Turkey, where it

6720-468: Was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and SNCF guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity. Private funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. Initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements,

6804-535: Was through a separate legal entity, Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML, but the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, now managed by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority . The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55-year operating concession (from 1987; extended by 10 years to 65 years in 1993) to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement

6888-511: Was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985, the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement. The Anglo-French Treaty on the Channel Tunnel was signed by both governments in Canterbury Cathedral . The Treaty of Canterbury (1986) prepared

6972-505: Was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 hectares) of land. This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. Environmental assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised concerning

7056-741: Was used to drive the Moda tunnel for the Istanbul Sewerage Scheme. In 1979, the "Mouse-hole Project" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project, but British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not object to a privately funded project, although she said she assumed it would be for cars rather than trains. In 1981, Thatcher and French president François Mitterrand agreed to establish

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