Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel will be the first fixed link ever built between Britain and

France. A French engineer, Albert Matthieu, first submitted the idea to Na oleon in !"#$. A French tunnel was started in !"%% and a British one in!""!, but the& came to nothing. 'n !()# new lans were made and two tunnels were begun in !(%*, onl& to be abandoned in !(%+. Now things are different. A grou called ,urotunnel began work in !("" on a massive engineering ro-ect that seems certain to link u terminals near Folkestone in Britain and Calais in France. .cheduled to o en in !((/, the tunnel will carr& assengers and freight on electric shuttle trains that will race from ,ngland to France in under /+ minute. The tunnel will s&mbolise the fact that Britain is ,uro ean and make it easier for travellers to reach the continent. The anglo0french grou in charge is building two /!0mile rail tunnels%.)m in diameter, and a *.)m 1diameter service tunnel for ventilation and routine maintenance. The& will run !##m below sea level through a la&er of chalk marl, which is almost im ervious to water and is ideal for tunneling.