The Channel Tunnel opened in May 1994 after 6 years of construction. It's the longest undersea tunnel in the world. The Channel Tunnel is really 3 tunnels, running parallel to each other. Trains go through 2 larger tunnels.
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On the British side, the digging began near Shakespeare Cliff outside of Dover; the French side began near the village of Sangatte. The digging was done by huge tunnel boring machines, known as TBMs, which cut through the chalk, collected the debris, and transported the debris behind it using conveyor belts.
The Channel Tunnel is one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken in the UK. Taking more than five years to complete, with more than 13,000 workers from England and France collaborating to realise the vision, the tunnel has been named one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
The project was financed entirely by private sector capital, including five banks who were part of the TransManche Link consortium. Financing originated partly from investment by shareholders and partly from GBP8 billion of debt (about USD12. 2 billion, 1994 prices).
Eurotunnel is now highly profitable, after a difficult start when it was held down by massive debts from the tunnel construction. Debt restructuring in 2007 reversed the company's fortunes — at the expense of thousands of small shareholders who saw their holdings slashed in value.
Water is drained from the tunnels by large submersible pumps, and reliable operation is critical - there are more than 200 train movements in each direction every day.
There have been several fires in vehicles being transported through the Channel Tunnel since its opening in 1994. As of 2022 all were caused by lorries carried on the heavy goods vehicle shuttle trains.
Collapse of the tunnel isn't what would make it impassible first. The tunnel itself might well last a century or so, but if there's no electric power for as little as a few weeks the tunnel will be closed by water seepage that can't be pumped out.
In cooperation with Rönesans Holding, the Heitkamp Construction Swiss GmbH tunnel and railroad construction specialists constructed the world's longest and deepest tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel. This 57 kilometre-long tunnel lies at a depth of 2,300 metres.
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Costs went 80% over budget for construction, in real terms, and 140% over for financing. Those costs had to be covered and debt had to be serviced during construction, while revenues were still years in the future. Revenues were a fifth of what had been estimated, resulting in the tunnel's first insolvency.