se7enW
Back to Where
🌍 where

Where Is the Channel Tunnel?

EngineeringGeography

Quick Answer

The Channel Tunnel runs beneath the English Channel between Folkestone in Kent, England, and Coquelles near Calais in northern France — at 50.45 km, it has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world (37.9 km).

The Full Story

The Channel Tunnel ("Chunnel") was one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. First proposed by Napoleon engineer in 1802, it was finally completed in 1994 after six years of construction. The tunnel consists of three parallel bores: two single-track rail tunnels (7.6 metres diameter) and a smaller central service tunnel (4.8 metres) used for maintenance and emergency evacuation. Giant tunnel boring machines (TBMs) dug from both sides, meeting in the middle on 1 December 1990 — when workers broke through, the two halves were aligned to within just centimetres. The tunnel runs through a layer of chalk marl (a reliable, low-permeability geological formation) at depths of up to 75 metres below the seabed. Eurostar passenger trains travel at up to 160 km/h through the tunnel (the crossing takes about 35 minutes), while Eurotunnel Le Shuttle carries vehicles on flatbed wagons. About 20 million passengers use the tunnel annually.

Key Facts

1.The Channel Tunnel total length is 50.45 km, with 37.9 km under the sea — the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world.
2.Construction employed about 13,000 workers and cost approximately 4.65 billion pounds (about $12 billion in 1994) — 80% over the original budget.
3.The tunnel carries about 20 million passengers per year on Eurostar and about 1.6 million vehicles per year on Le Shuttle.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"The Channel Tunnel — How Engineers Connected Britain and France"