Channel Tunnel : deputation to the Prime Minister : full details of the present scheme, military, engineering, financial ... / edited by W. Turner Perkins.

  • Channel Tunnel Company.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Channel Tunnel : deputation to the Prime Minister : full details of the present scheme, military, engineering, financial ... / edited by W. Turner Perkins. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Indeed, although the number of travellers who pass in both directions between France and Germany is almost three millions a year, the number of passengers who pass between ports in England and the different ports of the Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic scarcely exceeds a million-and-a-half. This is relatively a small proportion, and the explanation has to be sought in the numerous changes from train to boat and from boat to train which complicate atrip between England and the Continent. The Channel Tunnel would cause these inconveniences to disappear, and certainly there would soon be between London and Paris the same movement of passengers as that which already exists between the great capitals of Europe and Paris. The free passage of the strait at any hour of the day would have the advantage of preventing the delay for several hours, at Calais or Boulogne, of the great expresses from Germany, Italy or Russia, the passengers of which have to wait for the starting of the steamers. These expresses would go straight through to England, and the journey would be accomplished in a much shorter time. It has been calculated that the making of the Tunnel would diminish by at least two hours the duration of the most rapid service which is at present in operation between Paris and London. An Englishman leaving London at eight or nine nine o’clock in the morning would be in Paris at one or two o’clock in the afternoon. He could leave Paris at six or seven o’clock in the evening, and be back in London between eleven o’clock and midnight. It is evident that in a short time the movement of passengers between the two great capitals of the West would be doubled or trebled, and that the amount of business transacted between France and England would be increased in the same proportion. As the amount of travelling between France and Germany increased, our commerce with that nation also increased to the extent of 60 per cent., whilst in the same period our commerce with England has increased by only 30 per cent. Everything, therefore, goes to show that the construction of a route under the Channel would be the beginning of an increase in the business between the two great nations which it would connect, and that a new prosperity would result from this great effort to get rid of a severance which in fact did not exist in pre-historic times, and which it has only pleased Nature to bring into existence at a comparatively recent period through the process of erosion. But is it simply a question of a great effort ? Is it not foolish to think of making it ? Are there not, in a word, obstacles which even already enable the complete uselessness of the undertaking to be foreseen ? This is the question which we have put to M. Sartiaux, the Chief Engineer of the Compagnie du Nord, who has made a deep study of this project of a Tunnel under the Channel, and whose high technical qualifications make the opinion which he gave us one of the greatest authority which it would be possible to obtain. The first condition in order that the Channel Tunnel may become a reality,” said M. Sartiaux, is the existence in the bed of the Channel of an impermeable geological stratum through which the Tunnel may be bored. However, this requisite stratum does exist. Almost eight thousand borings have been made in order to ascertain exactly the position of the different strata which make up the bottom of the strait of Dover. Among those geological strata, whose position has thus been determined with precision, is found that which geologists call the cenomanian, and which possesses the necessary properties. It has a thickness of 60 metres, and the close texture of the rock will prevent water from leaking through. The water which it will be necessary to get rid of according to the size of the works will be much less in quantity than that with which a pumping plant of moderate capacity can deal. At the same time, in order that these waters may roll awav when the Tunnel is constructed, they must have a fall. If the water were to flow down a slope to the lowest parts of the tunnel at each end of the line, the outline of the Tunnel, taken lengthwise, would then be like the back of an ass, and the highest level would coincide with the middle of the route. But if the lowest points were at each end of the line, it would be impossible to come above ground again save by means of slopes which would add considerably to the length of the trip. This solution has, therefore, to be abandoned. Another solution which has been preferred is one which consists in arranging that the water should flow down through secondary galleries running from the Tunnel to low' levels, where the water will be thrown out by means of powerful pumps. These are the galleries the digging of which will be first begun by making use of the shaft at Sangatte, and turning off from the already existing gallery. The entrance to the Tunnel will be placed in the cliff a little to the south of Cran d’Escalles, near Blanc Nez, and the junction line will leave the Calais-Boulogne line at a point close to Marquise. The station offices and custom house will be situated at Wissant. It is here that the steam engine will be attached to the trains from England when they come out of the Tunnel. It will not be necessary to do rnore than simply to hook on the engine, which can be done in a couple of minutes. The delay will be very much less than that which is inevitable at maritime railway stations owing to the transference of passengers and baggage from steamer to train or from train to steamer. This brief sketch [together with plans and sections published in Je Sais Tout] shows that the enterprise has been carefully thought out, and that there is no reason why plans arranged with such completeness should not be carried out without delay. This great work, which would be a new conquest of Nature by man, would involve an expense of ^16,000,000. The Channel Tunnel is not the only solution which has been proposed to enable trains to go directly from the Continent to England, and from England to the.Continent. Suggestions have been made for making use of immense ferry boats like those which in many parts of the world carry entire trains across straits or channels. Is this idea practicable in the case of the English Channel, which is furrowed by rapid currents, and in which the tides are a factor of great importance ? In any event the proposal has numerous supporters. Finally, there was the project of building a bridge across the strait. This bridge, costing ^40,000,000, would be supported on piers which would cause great obstruction to navigation. The currents which flow in that part of the Channel added to these new obstacles, and even intensified by them, would make of this piece of water, so crowded with shipping, a place where ships would run the greatest possible risk. Apart from these considera- tions, the possibility of building such a gigantic bridge is far from having been demonstrated. To sum up, one single project remains which will enable England and the Continent to be connected, and it is that of the Tunnel under the Channel. The necessity and the possibility of this route under the water have been established, and if the work has been already interrupted, the new resources which are nowadays at the disposal of men will render its realisation more easy and more rapid. Let us hope that it will soon be permitted to the two peoples who shall have accomplished this gigantic enterprise to set the seal in this fashion to an Entente which will increase their mutual prosperity at the same time as it will increase the peace of the world. Dr. J. Crinion.