A history of the building of the Channel Tunnel, which connects England and France, with emphasis on the difficulties of digging a tunnel where some engineers said it could not be done.

The Channel Tunnel, has been one of histories most protracted and at times acrimonious, construction projects. From the paranoia of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when there was a fear that foreign hordes would rush through the tunnel and invade Britain, to the lethargic attempts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its a miracle, that this great feat of Engineering, was ever constructed at all. Nicholas Faith, has delved into the archives and researched the fascinating truth about this project, that took so long to authorise and construct. The author has found material in the archives, both in Britain and abroad, that has not been previously published or seen, outside a closed group of people.

In a "business narrative of high risk and high finance, of culture clashes and reckless blunders," the author explains the tunnel from an engineering standpoint and also from the viewpoint of the financiers who had planned to make money on the project.

The Channel Tunnel may be the greatest engineering project in Europe this century. This book describes the tremendous engineering achievement of the construction of the tunnel. Written by twenty of the key engineers involved, it provides a fascinating, informative and inspiring account of the project for both engineering professionals and general readers.

Commissioned by the Cabinet Office and using hitherto untapped British Government records, this book presents an in-depth analysis of the successful project of 1986-94. This is a vivid portrayal of the complexities of quadripartite decision-making (two countries, plus the public and private sectors), revealing new insights into the role of the British and French Governments in the process. This important book, written by Britain’s leading transport historian, will be essential reading for all those interested in PPPs, British and European economic history and international relations. The building of the Channel Tunnel has been one of Europe’s major projects and a testimony to British-French and public-private sector collaboration. However, Eurotunnel’s current financial crisis provides a sobering backcloth for an examination of the British Government’s long-term flirtation with the project, and, in particular, the earlier Tunnel project in the 1960s and early 1970s, which was abandoned by the British Government in 1975.

The Channel Tunnel has been called the greatest engineering project of the century, overcoming a unique set of financial, political and engineering challenges. This book provides a comprehensive insight into the events which culminated in the first dry link between Britain and France. It describes the relationship between the site investigation, data interpretation and construction of the works. It examines areas such as the difficulties inherent in predicting geology from a relatively small number of boreholes and revealing how the use of modern geophysical techniques.

Explore the facts and mysteries surrounding the history and collapse of Richmond, Virginia's Church Hill Tunnel. A must for fans of railroad and Richmond history. Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was in shambles after the Civil War. The bulk of Reconstruction became dependent on the railways, and one of the most important links in the system was the Church Hill Tunnel. The tunnel was eventually rendered obsolete by an alternative path over a viaduct, and it was closed for regular operation in 1902. However, the city still used it infrequently to transport supplies, and it was maintained with regular safety inspections. The city decided to reopen the tunnel in 1925 due to overcrowding on the viaduct, but the tunnel needed to be strengthened and enlarged. On October 2, 1925, 190 ft. of the tunnel unexpectedly caved in, trapping construction workers and an entire locomotive inside. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the tunnel and the mystery surrounding its collapse. There were cave-ins and sink holes above the surface for decades after the tunnel was sealed up, and in 1998, a reporter from the Richmond Times-Dispatch did an investigation, trying to determine the current condition of the tunnel. In 2006, the Virginia Historical Society announced its efforts to try and excavate the locomotive and remaining bodies.