England to France in 68 Seconds

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st13phil

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While many of us have travelled to and from France through the tunnel, probably most don't realise how the tunnel undulates under the sea. Here's a great short video from the BBC News site.
 
I love the tunnel - the sheer audacity of it all!! Plus the logistics of check-in, boarding etc. are awesome
 
I love the tunnel. Superb example of Engineering conning tax money to pay for a civil construction that made absolutely no economic sense whatsoever.

A financial disaster that barely covers it's operating costs today, after having written off all of its construction cost.

The passenger forecast was 17 million passengers a year, which just about justified the runne.

Eurotunnel knew it was an unrealistic forecast, but tabled it all the same. Last year it carried just 11 million passengers, which is why it makes passengers wait before boarding in order to get a few quid out of them in overpriced hamburgers and cups of coffee. (It's the only reason they make you wait)

And still it sits there, handling 11% of the UK's international trade in physical goods. A shining target to any terrorist: Islamic, Climate or whoever comes next.


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My dad worked on the tunnel for seven years , we have loads of memorabilia from bronze "breakthrough" statues , cutting tips from the TBM , medals , debris from the chalk seam etc.

Certainly a clever piece of engineering.

K
 
Going through the tunnel in 68 seconds would mean going at about 1800mph!:eek:
 
I love the chunnel. I'm no great fan of ferries, and since the tunnel opened I've never crossed the channel on the surface. Thumbs up from me.

Cheers,

Gaz
 
Very interesting - thanks! I always thought it was basically a straight line with a slope down at one end and up at the other.
 
I've never managed it that quickly, and I have done it a few times!
A fantastic piece of engineering, but something which works better as a rail link than as car link to those more than 3 hours from Dover.
Having spent most all of the last 30 years in either Norfolk or the north, the ferry was slower but always gave the chance of a meal or a sleep to break the journey to Europe.
if you are in and around the Home Counties, Eurostar makes perfect sense for that day trip to Paris...and I don't want to count the visits to the FIA I've done!
My favourite for Le Mans was the overnight ferry Portmounth to Le Harve. A nights sleep onboard, then just a couple of hours drive to the circuit where sleep was normally a rare commodity during my visits....
I really used to like the hovercraft, despite being the only mode of transport I have ever been travel sick on. On my Honeymoon:confused:
 
Having spent most all of the last 30 years in either Norfolk or the north, the ferry was slower but always gave the chance of a meal or a sleep to break the journey to Europe.
Pretty much matches my experience. When I lived close to the border of Cambs & Lincs I always preferred the DoCa ferry as I’d be ready for a break, while where I live now is pretty much on the edge of the tunnel being my preference.

I never crossed on the hovercraft, but have used the SeaCat service in the past and there’s a reason it’s known as the “vomit comet” :eek::D
 
I always thought it was basically a straight line with a slope down at one end and up at the other.
I suspect most people think that as there’s logic to building a tunnel that way, and you don’t actually notice the changes in direction as you travel through it. It’s purely a result of the geology that it had to be built the way it is.

If you’ve ever used the original Blackwall Tunnel you will have noticed fairly sharp bends at each end of it that seem a bit odd. I’m told that it was built that way to minimise the chances of horses bolting for the light at the end of the tunnel until the last minute.
 
If you’ve ever used the original Blackwall Tunnel you will have noticed fairly sharp bends at each end of it that seem a bit odd. I’m told that it was built that way to minimise the chances of horses bolting for the light at the end of the tunnel until the last minute.
I actually had wondered about this! I use it now and again and had the feeling that the tunnel need not have had such sharp bends in it to achieve the desired (shortest) route under the river.
 
If you’ve ever used the original Blackwall Tunnel you will have noticed fairly sharp bends at each end of it that seem a bit odd. I’m told that it was built that way to minimise the chances of horses bolting for the light at the end of the tunnel until the last minute.

Glorious to think that horses were finally banned from the Blackwell tunnel in 1947, with pedestrians finally (sic) being banned in 1969 !! `

"Fancy a walk, dear? Let's walk under the river for a Mackeson or two."
 
Glorious to think that horses were finally banned from the Blackwell tunnel in 1947, with pedestrians finally (sic) being banned in 1969 !!
I nearly put my then girlfriend's Mini into the wall on one of the tight bends at the southern end of the tunnel back in the late 1970's. I still don't know what happened to this day, because we weren't pushing it at all and I was following a Ford Granada that negotiated the bend without incident, yet the Mini stepped what felt like about 4 feet across the road before regaining traction and carrying on. I can only assume there was an oil or diesel spillage that the Granada had straddled and I hit due to the Mini's narrower track :dk:

There was certainly an odd smell in the car for a while after, and it wasn't from the Vim factory, either ;)
 
Glorious to think that horses were finally banned from the Blackwell tunnel in 1947, with pedestrians finally (sic) being banned in 1969 !! `

"Fancy a walk, dear? Let's walk under the river for a Mackeson or two."

All modes of transport are still permitted in the Rotherhithe tunnel, I’ve seen people walking it before and have cycled it myself - not too difficult as it’s easy to keep up with traffic on the downslope and then keep the momentum going until part-way back up the ascent. The air quality isn’t great though - the experience taught me to always put the car into recirc mode for tunnels.
 
I suspect most people think that as there’s logic to building a tunnel that way, and you don’t actually notice the changes in direction as you travel through it. It’s purely a result of the geology that it had to be built the way it is.

If you’ve ever used the original Blackwall Tunnel you will have noticed fairly sharp bends at each end of it that seem a bit odd. I’m told that it was built that way to minimise the chances of horses bolting for the light at the end of the tunnel until the last minute.
I don't know if the reasons are the same for the Mersey tunnel twisting and turning, I was told it was to slow the wind down as the tunnel acts like a flue.
 
I don't know if the reasons are the same for the Mersey tunnel twisting and turning, I was told it was to slow the wind down as the tunnel acts like a flue.
That's very unlikely!
Wind is merely a pressure difference, and like any other gas or fluid is very adept at finding it's way around curves.:dk:
Light, on the other hand, needs surfaces to reflect off. So the horses not bolting for the light (at the end of the tunnel!) in the Blackwall tunnel sounds much more plausible.
 

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