Euro Tunnel History
Groupe Eurotunnel
History
Early projects 1802
In 1802, French mining engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier put forward the first ever design for a cross-Channel fixed link based on the principle of a bored two-level tunnel: the top one, paved and lit by oil lamps, to be used by horse-drawn stagecoaches ; the bottom one would be used for groundwater flows.
1803
In 1803, the Englishman Henry Mottray unveils another project for a cross-Channel fixed link: a submerged tunnel made of prefabricated iron sections.
1834
From 1830, the advent of steam trains and the construction of the rail network in Britain led to the first proposals for a rail tunnel. By the mid 19th century, French mining engineer, Aimé Thomé de Gamond, spent 30 years working on seven different designs.
1855
25 August During the state visit to France in Versailles, Queen Victoria and Napoléon III approve the proposed under sea tunnel designed by Thomé de Gamond, which was later on presented in the Exposition Universelle of Paris in 1867.
1880
The first attempt of a tunnel excavation began in 1880 when the « Beaumont & English » tunnel boring machine began digging undersea on both sides of the Channel.
1909
25 July Louis Blériot was the first to fly an aeroplane across the Strait of Dover and in 37 minutes.
1955
February Harold Macmillan, British Defence Minister, announced that he no longer opposed a fixed link on military ground.
1957
26 July Louis Armand formed the Channel Tunnel Study Group (GETM).
1960
July The Channel Tunnel Study Group presents to the governments a proposal of railway tunnel, bored of submerged, comprising a twin rail tunnel with a service tunnel.
1973
17 November The project of the construction and the operations of a railway tunnel under the Channel is finally launched in 1973 at Chequers by Edward Heath, British Prime Minister, and Georges Pompidou, French President, when a Franco-British Channel Tunnel Treaty was signed.
1975
20
History
Early projects 1802
In 1802, French mining engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier put forward the first ever design for a cross-Channel fixed link based on the principle of a bored two-level tunnel: the top one, paved and lit by oil lamps, to be used by horse-drawn stagecoaches ; the bottom one would be used for groundwater flows.
1803
In 1803, the Englishman Henry Mottray unveils another project for a cross-Channel fixed link: a submerged tunnel made of prefabricated iron sections.
1834
From 1830, the advent of steam trains and the construction of the rail network in Britain led to the first proposals for a rail tunnel. By the mid 19th century, French mining engineer, Aimé Thomé de Gamond, spent 30 years working on seven different designs.
1855
25 August During the state visit to France in Versailles, Queen Victoria and Napoléon III approve the proposed under sea tunnel designed by Thomé de Gamond, which was later on presented in the Exposition Universelle of Paris in 1867.
1880
The first attempt of a tunnel excavation began in 1880 when the « Beaumont & English » tunnel boring machine began digging undersea on both sides of the Channel.
1909
25 July Louis Blériot was the first to fly an aeroplane across the Strait of Dover and in 37 minutes.
1955
February Harold Macmillan, British Defence Minister, announced that he no longer opposed a fixed link on military ground.
1957
26 July Louis Armand formed the Channel Tunnel Study Group (GETM).
1960
July The Channel Tunnel Study Group presents to the governments a proposal of railway tunnel, bored of submerged, comprising a twin rail tunnel with a service tunnel.
1973
17 November The project of the construction and the operations of a railway tunnel under the Channel is finally launched in 1973 at Chequers by Edward Heath, British Prime Minister, and Georges Pompidou, French President, when a Franco-British Channel Tunnel Treaty was signed.
1975
20