CHANNEL TUNNEL TO BE MADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12638, 24 May 1919, Page 5

CHANNEL TUNNEL TO BE MADE.

11l reply to an inquiry from Mr Bottomley in the House of Cofnmons on. M arch 10 as to whether the Government would consider the possibility of beginning work on the Channel Tunnel, Mr Honor Law said that ho was in communication with the Prime Minister in Paris upon the subject. The “Daily Mail" made the definite, announcement that both the British and French Governments have agreed to the construction of the tunnel. Details are being discussed by a commission in Paris on which Sir 11. Llewellyn Smith, of the Board of Trade, is the British representative. This commission is also considering the building of tunnels under the Bosphorus, connecting Europe with Asia, and from Gibraltar, connecting Europe with Africa. A general agreement appears also to have been reached as to the advisability of these projects, and when . all the great under-ocean railways are built it may be possible to travel from London to Cape Town or even to Calcutta without changing. Tho engineering plans for the Channel tunnel are so far advanced that work could he begun at once. They have been drawn up bv the engineers of the South-Eastern and Chatham Bailway, in conjunction with Government officials on this side, and by the Northern of France Railway and tho French Government on the French side. When the plan was first considered some years ago it was thought possible to start the tunnel on the British side comparatively near the coast in tha neighbourhood of Dover, hut a big cliff fall between Folkestone and Dover since then has compelled tho choice of a new starting point much farther inland. It is thought inadvisable to give its exact location until the necessary land has been acquired. It lies to the north-west of Dover, and a new branch railway lino, probably from Ashford, will have to be built to bring the trains to the mouth. A site for the other entrance on tho French side has also been secured some way from the coast, which there, as on the English shore, consists of cliffs, and additional French railway construction will also he necessary. PARCELS PUMPED ACROSS. Opera-tious will be begun on both sides of the Channel simultaneously, in addition to the tracks the tunnels will carry telephone and telegraph wires, thus doing away with sea-bed cables between England and the Continent. It is also intended to instal pneumatic carrier tubes for letters and parcels, similar to those tho Post Office use in London. The problem of who is to hear the expense is one of the matters before tho Commission in Paris. The French and British railway companies concerned have been ready to finance the scheme, and before the war a separate Channel Tunnel Company, was formed to carry out the project, but the French and British Governments are desirous of exercising control, and some form of joint State finance may he adopted. When this question is settled a start will be made. The powers possessed by the Government under the Defence of the Realm Act are sufficient for the acquisition of the necessary land, but a better plan might be a special Act. The matter is one which will concern the new Transport Ministry. No preference in rates of carriage will be given to any country. Even if the cost of the tunnel is borne by the British and French Governments, goods of those countries will not be conveyed more cheaply than those of any other nation. This has already been decided by the Commission in Paris in conformity with the general policy followed by' the Peace Conference. The adoption of the project is a great personal triumph for Sir Arthur Fell. M.P. for Yarmouth, who hn,s fought for it inside and outside the House since 1912. He has bent the ouertinn constantly to the fore by nublisting pamphlets, by speeches, and bv heading deputations to the Prime Minister. TUNNEL THROUGH GREY CHALK BELT. Problems which will confront the engineers were discussed by Sir Ernest Moir, of Messrs S. Pearson and Sou, Ltd., who built Blackwell Tunnel, under the Thames, and the East River tunnels which connect Manhattan with Long island. Sir Ernest Moir said: "In building tho East River tunnels it was necessary to bore through hard rock covered with immense glacial boulders overlaid with quicksand. In the ease of the Blackwell tunnel, the bore was run close under the gravel bed of the river and a blanket of London clay, which is impervious to water, was laid between the gravel and the tunnel. I have, through small inspection apertures in the tunnel, seen the gravel swayed to and fro by the liver. In the Channel the sea is not the difficulty; the risk lies in the geologic” 1 aspect. The first layer under the Channel is white chalk, and beneath this is a belt of grey chalk come 300 feet in depth. Tho question arises whether or not this grey chalk is impervious to water, for through it engineers consider the tunnel will have to be bored. If it is impervious the

Bifffl AMO FRAME AGREE TO; MSIRUOTii, TWO THIRTY-TWO MILE TUBES. A STUPENDOUS ENGINEERING ENTERPRISE.

- f tunnelling will be easily compared with i; tiie East River tunnels. U “Tlio headings started from either _ j side of the Channel some years ago and ; pushed a certain distance under the sea, are still standing, which is a good ' sign. Geological evidence is that at 1 some period in history the sen, broke through from the North Sea, joined up >, with the Atlantic, and formed the Y English Channel. It remains to he seen wnether if in-this upheaval any largo fissures were created.” Sir Ernest pointed out that these ' risks might add to the difficulties but i would not prove insurmountable. Veni tilation by air pumps would be easy. , In case of military necessity the tunnel r could bo easily blocked from the head- ’ mg. “ When built,” he declared. ”it 1 would be of vital importance to ns not ’ to ncwlect our Channel shipping orsan- ” motion, for to depend entirelv on tho • tunnel would be a dangerous policy.” » 280 FEET BELOW THE SEA. [ The construction of the tunnel will, with- tho exception of tho Panama Canal, be the most stupendous eugin- ’ eering enterprise yet planned. The \ otai iengtu, including the approaches ; in England and France, will be thirtytwo miles, of which rather more than . twenty-one and a half miles will be ' under the seaj The first work was done on the tunnel in 1874., when a French company [ sank an experimental shaft in France. , In 1881 tho South-costern Railway , Company’s chairman, Sir E- Watkin, i obtained an Act permitting him to sink • a shaft on the English side. A boring • was driven for 2015 yds towards the ’ Channel, when in 1882 the construc- . tion was stopped by tho Government. » Since then the scheme has been in abey- • mice, but in 1913 the Government . called for reports from naval and military authorities with a view to permit- , ting the construction if they wore fai vourable. Then tho war came, and nothing more could be done. The present plans provide for the building of two tunnels, each 18ft indiameter, connected by cross gali’dries at intervals of 200 yds. ’ The lines would be worked by electricity, as in the case of the Simplon tunnel, which is twelve and a half miles long, and is at present the longest. The maximum depth’of water on tho route is 180 ft, and a cover of chalk 100 ft thick would be left undisturbed above the crown of the tunnel to pro-" vide against any danger from an enemy or the sea. so that the tunnel would) descend to ,a level of about 280 ft below the sea’s surface. Iron tubes will be built up as the tunnel advances, precisely as in the London “ tubes.” Owing to the extra- , ordinary advance in the'art of tunnelf J in S 111 recent years the work could bo done quickly, and it is estimated that the tunnel itself could bo completed in five or five and a half years. COST OVER £20,000,000. . The cost before the war was estimated at £16,000,000, which amount now yvould probably have to be considerably ■ SpSS ■ SM 6 war wero calculated at year, and the income at ~1,000,000, but both estimates would probably now be exceeded. Before the war it was thought that British rolling stock, which differs slightly m gauge from French and Continental rolling stock, could not bo run over Continental lines. But experience during the war, when many thousands of British waggons and locomotives have been used on the French lines, has proved that this difficulty does nob exist. other hand, the dimensions of British tunnels, our high platforms, and the smaller clearance between the tiaoks would prevent the utilisation of foreign rolling stock, unless specially built, or unless our linos were altered. It would bo possible to shorten the 1 journey to Paris greatly. Before the war the quickest service was in 6 hours 45 minutes. With the tunnel the journey could bo done in 6 hours, whatever_ the weather. The Customs examination could be carried out in the trains, as it was on the St Gothard i ailway for passengers between Switzerland and Italy before the war. I LOiVDON-OALCUTTA. London would be in direct communication with every part of Europe where the gauge is similar to our own. Through carriages could be run to every Continental capital, except Fetro- ; grad, as in Russia the gauge is too wide to admit of standard trains. The .Bagdad hue and its connections now completing will give a complete route from Constantinople to the Persian Gulf. This lino is connected by tracks of varying gauge (some of which will not admit standard rolling-stock) with Jerusalem and Cairo, and from Cairo eventually a railway is to be carried to the Cape. • Ultimately the Indian system will be connected with the Bagdad railway, and a. line has already been carried some distance, west from the Indian system through Southern Baluchistan, so that it is no mere dream that one 1 clay trains will run from London to Calcutta or Bombay, and their passengers will not need to leave their carriages. London to Calcutta would then be a journey of little more than ' a week ar nine days-