Complete and translate the following sentences.

1. The often-considered idea of (сооружение), a tunnel under the English Channel, was revived in 1986 by the United Kingdom and France. A rail tunnel was chosen over proposals for a very long (висячий мост), a bridge-and-tunnel link, and a combined rail-and-road link. (Проходка) began on both sides of the Strait of Dover in 1987–88 and was completed in 1991. The tunnel was officially opened in May 1994.

2. In 1987 (щиты) began simultaneously excavating from both sides. The 49.4 km long Euro tunnel is actually three parallel tubes: two (основные тоннели), each 7.6 m in diameter, and a 4.8 m diameter (служебный тоннель) running between them. The Japanese company Kawasaki Heavy Industries designed the machines that (прошли) almost 20 km of the French-side rail tunnels. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries machines dug the initial four kilometers of the (двойной тоннель). The US engineering company Robbins built the smaller service tunnel that lies between them. British-built machines drilled the tunnels from the other side.

3. It took just three years for TBMs from France and England to chew through the chalky earth and meet hundreds of feet below the (поверхность), of the English Channel. Many of the (проходческие машины) used on the Chunnel, were as long as two football fields and capable of boring 250 feet a day. When construction began in 1988, British and French tunnel workers raced to reach the (середина) of the tunnel first. The British won.

4. The tunnels for the Moscow Metro were drilled through the (слабый грунт). (Проходчики) employed shields equipped with (рассекающие перегородки) set from the front frame of the shield against the (забой). As the shield advanced, the cutting blades broke down the face and the muck flowed through the (рабочие ячейки) onto a conveyor belt for loading it from the (платформы) to tilting skips.

5. (Законченные) tunnels were smaller than the TBM’s that bore them: when the digging was complete, the machines had to be (демонтировать) and partly destroyed to remove them from the site.

6. Herrenknecht mixshield equipment can cope with all ground conditions, the base machine being able to be reconfigured as a slurry machine or (щит с компенсацией давления горных пород). When ground (условия) varies, the shield configuration can be changed to suit.

7. The Herrenknecht shields are designed for fast, safe, economic and (высокотехнологичная проходка). They are able to work with (жидкая глина), compressed air or earth pressure face control and support. The basic machine consists of an articulated shield and (обшивка хвостовой части), cutting wheel and drive, erector and trailing gantries remain unchanged while comparatively minor changes alter the ground system. This conversion must be possible without problems, even underground.

Complete the following sentences using your own ideas and the Word list below.

1. Most existing tunnels were driven by the drill and blast method, which cannot escape the risk of ...……………………………………………………………..

2. Technological advances in modern tunneling result in …………………………

3. TBMs can be used for soft and rock tunneling because…………………......…

4. Shields can be assembled either in the shop or …………………………………

5. Various geological conditions call for different tunneling techniques because …………………………………………………………………………………

The Word List

1. Breasting of the face	a) укрепление забоя щитом
2. Bulkhead, curtain	b) диафрагма щита, перегородка
3. Cutting edge	c) ножевое кольцо щита
4. Cutting wheel	d) режущий диск
5. Drive	e) привод, передача
6. Eccentric load	f) внецентренная нагрузка
7. Hazardous ground	g) участок повышенного риска
8. Jack pot	h) упор для домкрата
9. Milling cutter	i) шарошка
10. Pocket	j) рабочая ячейка щита
11. Port	k) окно, отверстие, люк
12. Pressurize	l) создавать повышенное давление
13. Protective hood	m) защитный навес
14. Running sand	n) плывун
15. Safe breakthrough	o) надежная сбойка
16. Screw jack	p) винтовой домкрат
17. Screw conveyor	q) шнек, винтовой конвейер
18. Sealed	r) герметичный
19. Shove	s) продвижение щита за один цикл
20. Shutter opening	t) отверстие в шторке щита
21. Skin	u) внешняя обшивка, корпус щита
22. Swelling clay	v) разбухающая глина
23. Tail	w) хвостовая часть щита
24. Taper	x) конус, конический
25. Trailing gantry	y) подвижная рама
26. Tunnel layout	z) схема тоннеля