1990 : Chunnel makes breakthrough
Shortly after 11 a.m. on December 1, 1990, 132 feet below the English
Channel, workers drill an opening the size of a car through a wall of
rock. This was no ordinary hole--it connected the two ends of an
underwater tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for
the first time in more than 8,000 years.
The Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel," was not a new idea. It had been
suggested to Napoleon Bonaparte, in fact, as early as 1802. It wasn't
until the late 20th century, though, that the necessary technology was
developed. In 1986, Britain and France signed a treaty authorizing the
construction of a tunnel running between Folkestone, England, and
Calais, France.
Over the next four years, nearly 13,000 workers dug 95 miles of
tunnels at an average depth of 150 feet (45 meters) below sea level.
Eight million cubic meters of soil were removed, at a rate of some
2,400 tons per hour. The completed Chunnel would have three
interconnected tubes, including one rail track in each direction and
one service tunnel. The price? A whopping $15 billion.
After workers drilled that final hole on December 1, 1990, they
exchanged French and British flags and toasted each other with
champagne. Final construction took four more years, and the Channel
Tunnel finally opened for passenger service on May 6, 1994, with
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and France's President Francois
Mitterrand on hand in Calais for the inaugural run. A company called
Eurotunnel won the 55-year concession to operate the Chunnel, which is
the crucial stretch of the Eurostar high-speed rail link between
London and Paris. The regular shuttle train through the tunnel runs 31
miles in total--23 of those underwater--and takes 20 minutes, with an
additional 15-minute loop to turn the train around. The Chunnel is the
second-longest rail tunnel in the world, after the Seikan Tunnel in
Japan.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1990 : Chunnel makes breakthrough
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=5566
1824 : Presidential election goes to the House
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5564
1934 : Sergey Kirov murdered
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5565
1955 : Rosa Parks ignites bus boycot
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7098
#########################################
Shortly after 11 a.m. on December 1, 1990, 132 feet below the English
Channel, workers drill an opening the size of a car through a wall of
rock. This was no ordinary hole--it connected the two ends of an
underwater tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for
the first time in more than 8,000 years.
The Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel," was not a new idea. It had been
suggested to Napoleon Bonaparte, in fact, as early as 1802. It wasn't
until the late 20th century, though, that the necessary technology was
developed. In 1986, Britain and France signed a treaty authorizing the
construction of a tunnel running between Folkestone, England, and
Calais, France.
Over the next four years, nearly 13,000 workers dug 95 miles of
tunnels at an average depth of 150 feet (45 meters) below sea level.
Eight million cubic meters of soil were removed, at a rate of some
2,400 tons per hour. The completed Chunnel would have three
interconnected tubes, including one rail track in each direction and
one service tunnel. The price? A whopping $15 billion.
After workers drilled that final hole on December 1, 1990, they
exchanged French and British flags and toasted each other with
champagne. Final construction took four more years, and the Channel
Tunnel finally opened for passenger service on May 6, 1994, with
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and France's President Francois
Mitterrand on hand in Calais for the inaugural run. A company called
Eurotunnel won the 55-year concession to operate the Chunnel, which is
the crucial stretch of the Eurostar high-speed rail link between
London and Paris. The regular shuttle train through the tunnel runs 31
miles in total--23 of those underwater--and takes 20 minutes, with an
additional 15-minute loop to turn the train around. The Chunnel is the
second-longest rail tunnel in the world, after the Seikan Tunnel in
Japan.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1990 : Chunnel makes breakthrough
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=5566
1824 : Presidential election goes to the House
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5564
1934 : Sergey Kirov murdered
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5565
1955 : Rosa Parks ignites bus boycot
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7098
#########################################
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