The Design for the Channel Tunnels

The Channel Tunnel was to be made up of two, parallel railway tunnels that would be dug under the English Channel. Between these two railway tunnels would run a third, smaller tunnel that would be used for maintenance, including drainage pipes, communication cables, drainage pipes, etc.

Each of the trains that would run through the Chunnel would be able to hold cars and trucks. This would enable personal vehicles to go through the Channel Tunnel without having individual drivers face such a long, underground drive. The plan was expected to cost $3.6 billion.

Getting Started

Just getting started on the Channel Tunnel was a monumental task. Funds had to be raised (over 50 large banks gave loans), experienced engineers had to be found, 13,000 skilled and unskilled workers had to be hired and housed, and special tunnel boring machines had to be designed and built.

As these things were getting done, the designers had to determine exactly where the tunnel was to be dug. Specifically, the geology of the bottom of the English Channel had to be carefully examined. It was determined that although the bottom was made of a thick layer of chalk, the Lower Chalk layer, made up of chalk marl, would be the easiest to bore through.

Building the Channel Tunnel

The digging of the Channel Tunnel began simultaneously from the British and the French coasts, with the finished tunnel meeting in the middle. On the British side, the digging began near Shakespeare Cliff outside of Dover; the French side began near the village of Sangatte.

The digging was done by huge tunnel boring machines, known as TBMs, which cut through the chalk, collected the debris, and transported the debris behind it using conveyor belts. Then this debris, known as spoil, would be would be hauled up to the surface via railroad wagons (British side) or mixed with water and pumped out through a pipeline (French side). As the TBMs bore through the chalk, the sides of the newly dug tunnel had to be lined with concrete. This concrete lining was to help the tunnel withstand the intense pressure from above as well as to help waterproof the tunnel.

Connecting the Tunnels

One of the most difficult tasks on the Channel Tunnel project was making sure that both the British side of the tunnel and the French side actually met up in the middle. Special lasers and surveying equipment was used; however, with such a large project, no one was sure it would actually work. Since the service tunnel was the first to be dug, it was the joining of the two sides of this tunnel that caused the most fanfare. On December 1, 1990, the meeting of the two sides was officially celebrated. Two workers, one British (Graham Fagg) and one French (Philippe Cozette), were chosen by lottery to be the first to shake hands through the opening. After them, hundreds of workers crossed to the other side in celebration of this amazing achievement. For the first time in history, Great Britain and France were connected.

Finishing the Channel Tunnel

Although the meeting of the two sides of the service tunnel was a cause of great celebration, it certainly wasn't the end of the Channel Tunnel building project.

Both the British and the French kept digging. The two sides met in the northern running tunnel on May 22, 1991 and then only a month later, the two sides met in the middle of the southern running tunnel on June 28, 1991. That too wasn't the end of the Chunnel construction. Crossover tunnels, land tunnels from the coast to the terminals, piston relief ducts, electrical systems, fireproof doors, the ventilation system, and train tracks all had to be added. Also, large train terminals had to be built at Folkestone in Great Britain and Coquelles in France. On December 10, 1993, the first test run was completed through the entire Channel Tunnel. After additional fine tuning, the Channel Tunnel officially opened on May 6, 1994. After six years of construction and $15 billion spent (some sources say upwards of $21 billion), the Channel Tunnel was finally complete.

(http://history1900s.about.com/od/1990s/p/Channel-Tunnel.htm)

Review tasks

Task 23. What historical events are connected with Russia getting access to seas?

Task 24. Project work. Make individual or group projects about the role of sea in Russian history.

Task 25. What famous sea explorers in Russia do you know?

The KEY

Part 1 (ROOTS)

Task 1. If you are looking for the building blocks of British identity, their foundations are literally rock solid. Stonehenge takes us right back to the roots of Britishness.

The Stonehenge had been around long, long before that.

Task 2. 1. pre-historic; 2. spring; 3. druids; 4. human sacrifices; 5. knowledge

6. complex; 7. crazy myths; 8. symbol

Task 3. All this was about to change in 597.

Thomas Becket had a major falling out with King Henry II.

Task 4. 1. Christian; 2. had worshipped; 3. Pope Gregory; 4. pagan; 5. Augustine; 6. to preach;

7. baptized; 8. calendar; 9. Christmas; 10. bunny’s; 11. easter

Task 5. 1.two; 2. society; 3. wide; 4. streets; 5. humour

Task 7. With him the whole English nation had to break with Rome whether they liked it or not. The Pope didn’t grant him a divorce, so Henry VIII set up his own English Church.

Task 8. 1. Church of England; 2. heir; 3. six; 4. children; 5. religious; 6. Bloody Mary

Task 11. 1 – c Hamlet; 2 –f Tempest; 3 – b Macbeth; 4 – a Othello; 5 – e Romeo and Juliet; 6 – d King Lear.

Task 14. 1) booze, 2) took over, 3) staggering 2 pints, 4) urban poor, 5) readily available, 6) Dutch, 7) home-grown spirits, 8) produce, 9) low-quality grain, 10) vice

Key to Part II FREEDOM

Task 1. 1. The code of laws worked out by Alfred the Great was known as Doom Book.

Task 4. 1) 871; 2) stability; 3) learning; 4) girls; 5) judges; 6) rights; 7) tradition; 8) money

Task 5. 1). He ushered in the time of political stability. 2). Both sides went into war.

Task 9. 1) invasion; 2) love to hate; 3) the French; 4) taxes; 5) limited; 6) rights; 7) Parliament; 8) John; 9) Magna Charta; 10) American Constitution.

Task 10. Trust between the King and Parliament had been completely broken down.

1) 1625; 2) Parliament; 3) personal rule; 4) at will; 5) civil war; 6) half a million; 7) execution; 8) a republic.

Task 11). 1) protestant; 2) Mary; 3) husband; 4) Parliament; 5) the heart; 6) a gift.

Task 13. To seal (чтобы узаконить) this hostile takeover, the English negotiators still needed the final approval of the Scottish Parliament and they didn’t shy away from underhand methods. (не стеснялись использовать нечистоплотные методы)

Task 15 1) First Lord of the Treasury, 2) over 21 years, 3) George I and George II, 4) Downing Street, 5) 10 Downing Street, 6) First Lord of the Treasury, 7) the Cabinet, 8) appointed, 9) Cabinet solidarity, 10) defend them in public, 11) resign

Task 16 1) police force, 2) watchmen, 3) constables, 4) Charleys, 5) thief-takers, 6) bounty hunters, 7) curbing, 8) first recruits, 9) Peelers or Bobbies, 10) a sturdy helmet.

Key to Part III SEA

Task 1. Indigenous people like the Picts and the Celts put up a fierce resistance. It shows the tough, tenacious attitude of Celts and their determination not to give up their liberty. To keep the Celts in check, the Romans covered Britain with huge fortifications

Task 2. 1). the Romans; 2). the Channel; 3). invasion force; 4). walk over; 5) a fierce resistance;

6) against; 7) 400 years; 8) liberty; 9) in check; 10) huge fortifications; 11) roads;

12) single currency; 13) trade; 14) wider world; 15) law and order; 16) Latin;

Task 5. King Harold was in for a hard time.

1) Vikings; 2) Normandy; 3) North; 4) Hastings; 5) Anglo-Saxon; 6) Norman; 7) elite; knight; 9) lord;

Task 7. 1)real, 2) Tudor, 3) navy, 4) piracy, 5) smaller, 6) chance, 7) victory

Task 10 (Tea and American Revolution) 1)taxation, 2) British rule, 3) weapons and gunpowder, 4) shot, 5) shot, 6) American War for Independence, 7) French, 8) Spanish, 9) Dutch, 10) tide, 11) cut off, 12) bombardment, 13) outnumbered, 14) concede defeat, 15) surrender