British, French Link Up Under Channel Tunnel
Britain and France were linked beneath the English Channel on Tuesday when workers used a two-inch probe to connect two halves of a 31-mile undersea rail tunnel, officials reported. Management sources at TransManche Link, the construction consortium building the ``Chunnel'' - the Channel Tunnel - confirmed the historic linkup occurred about 8:25 p.m. when British workers sent the probe through to French colleagues. ``It is an example of what Europe is about,'' British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in London. ``This is Europe in practice.'' The linkup fulfills a dream by Napoleon in 1802, who thought he could defeat the English by connecting Britain to Europe with a land passage. The Chunnel is scheduled for completion in June 1993. ``This is a hugely historic moment because it means, in effect, that Britain is no longer an island,'' said a construction union official. Eight workers suffered injuries, two seriously, about 90 minutes later when a tractor towing supplies rolled over on them in a service gallery, authorities in nearby Sangatte reported. The basic goal of the Channel Tunnel project is to enable passengers to travel between London and Paris in about three hours. That time is comparable to flying, if transport to and from airports is included, and is half the time of a car-ferry journey. The conservative Daily Express newspaper noted in its Wednesday editions that Britons would theoretically be able to walk to France for the first time since the last Ice Age. The cost of the project has soared from an initial estimate of $9.4 billion to $16.7 billion, including an extra $1.97 billion for unforeseen cost overruns. The threading of the probes through 100 yards of chalk under the English Channel marks a major turning point in three years of drilling on the world's costliest tunnel. The meeting point was just over 13{ miles southeast of Shakespeare Cliff, the British terminus near the town of Dover, and 10 miles northwest of the French town of Sangatte, near Calais. The tunnel starts a few miles inland on each side, accounting for its total length of 31 miles. Geological conditions account for the different progress on each side. French workers reaching the tiny hole telephoned their British counterparts and relayed the news to TransManche officials. The first champagne corks popped minutes later. ``It's an exciting moment. It's the first time we have air passing between the two tunnels,'' said Gordon Crighton, tunnel engineering manager. ``We see it as just another exercise, but I'm sure there will be a lot of parties going on,'' he said. Preliminary tests indicated the two halves were 20 inches out of alignment. Another day will be needed to be certain, technicians said, but they called the line-up ``exceptional,'' considering the massive boring machines are drilling holes about three stories high. The workers will now bore out a one-yard hole to permit passage from one half to the other. They are expected to greet each other with handshakes in a few weeks. Two Japanese-designed boring machines are drilling the tunnel. After it is finished, one will be dismantled and hauled out in pieces. The other will drill its own grave and be buried in cement because French officials said it will be too costly to extricate it. A work slowdown since last week by militant tunnelers demanding more pay on the French side appeared likely Monday to stall the linkup until the weekend or beyond. But TransManche officials said earlier Tuesday that the meeting in the middle would occur on schedule. The Chunnel actually consists of three tunnels - two for railway trains and a smaller maintenance tunnel between them. Taking into account all the tunnels, 80 percent of the drilling has been completed by giant, Japanese-built boring machines working from Calais and Folkstone, England. Tuesday's linkup in the service tunnel is described by the French as a ``mouse ole'' - a bore only two inches in diameter. President Francois Mitterrand and Mrs. Thatcher are expected to meet each other in the tunnel Jan. 26, after the digging for much of the tunnel is finished. The first coupling of the two rail tunnels is scheduled for mid-1991. Eurotunnel PLC, the world's largest engineering project, announced Oct. 8 that it had reached an agreement with its banks on $3.5 billion in new credit. More than 200 banks are involved in the financing. The Chunnel's scheduled debut in mid-1993 would come six months after the 12-nation European Community formally drops remaining trade barriers, becoming a unified marketplace of 320 million consumers. Officials estimate the tunnel may carry 28 million passengers in the first year of operation, although Eurotunnel doesn't expect a profit until the end of the century. A study released last Friday in Paris by transportation experts said the tunnel's completion will aggravate traffic congestion in a wide area of continental Europe. Some Britons have worries of a different sort, fearing an influx of ills from the continent ranging from terrorism to rabid animals. Since construction began in late 1987, there have been seven deaths on the British side and two on the French. Five British firms were ordered last Wednesday to stand trial on charges related to the death of a construction worker last year. The undersea bond between the two hereditary enemies was envisioned nearly 200 years ago by a French engineer called Albert Mathieu. Napoleon wanted to build it, but Britain warned him off. Tunneling actually started in subsequent efforts in 1882 and 1974, but were abandoned.
chunnel;traffic congestion;continental europe;channel tunnel project;english channel;31-mile undersea rail tunnel;france;britain;historic linkup;transmanche link;cost overruns