European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 03, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Historic link nears completion a a. A a a. A a. 1 a a a. A a a \. R a. A a a a a a i 1. I a a. 1 a Channel May threaten ferry ports a ditch s note it was hooted As Folly when England Jed Ranee signed a treaty permitting the digging of two a i in tunnels underneath he English Channel which a a a a Quot d jes the two countries. Now the digging is almost completed and High Speed trams Are expected to Start. Quot a Shabti Flag Between pans and London in 1993 that s not mood hews for people in the boat business. A a. By Patrick Mcdowell. Associated press. Y _. -. _. O Quot n a Clear Day one really can see the White Cliffs of Dover. They glitter on the far Side of \ the English Channel a Beacon for ferries crisscrossing the 23 Miles of water separating England from France. A.,. A a. Bui there Are no vistas sea Breeze or Sunshine for the workmen toiling 140 feet underneath the Bluffs at. San Gatte France to finish Tunnel a a. Familiarly known As the Channel a the worlds biggest construction project a. A. A the Only color Here is mud Gray the Only Light from magnesium bulbs Strung along the gloomy passages a snaking under the sea into another Down Here it s a different world Quot remarks 42-year-, old Tun Neler Louis Boutin to a reporter still trying to make out things in the darkness. A prehistoric. We find a lot of fossils some i keep some 1 throw out. A hooted As Folly when the British and French governments signed a treaty to build them in 1985, the a three undersea tunnels connecting this tourist Village with Folkestone England Are nearly finished a a. The maintenance Tunnel was completed on dec. 1, a history making event that gave Britain its first land link. With Europe since Quot the last ice age 8,000 years ago a now workers from England and France expect to fully join the two main rail tunnels by late june. They will then a track for High Speed trains that will carry passengers. Cars and heavy pans Tolondo in.3/f> hours a passport please a a customs officer demands of. -. Strangers.�. _ v. Y. A s s. A British Miner Roy West left and French Tunnel manager Philippe Dumont celebrated the dec. 1, 1990, breakthrough of a service train with Flag waving at san Gatte France. A. Motorists will get reminder associated press _ britons drive left frenchmen on uninformed so epics have predicted huge head on collisions when they meet in the Channel Tunnel. A a a a a a a �?o4 there wont be any at least inside the Tunnel. The ,.a Channel Tunnel Isidor trains not cars but what Willa a happen after a Tram deposits a car at end of the Tunnel is another question. Y a a Eui funnel plans to handle 20 trains an hour carrying. Some 13 5 million passengers a year when the tunnels. A open Tor business in 1993. -1 a a a halt will to chisel nosed tvs a trains a Grande Viesse or High Speed trains a whisking riders from.pans-. To London and Back at speeds of up to 200 Mph. A a a a a the others will constructed trans Guy my cars buses and heavy trucks. a a _. A motorists will drive aboard the special Freigh cars at. _ huge terminals in Sang attend Folkestone England and remain in their vehicles As the Tram makes. The 20-Mmute crossing of course once the cars Are unto Dedon a a site and Drivers descend int unfamiliar streets anything a can happen _ _ a to keep the terminals Quot fron becoming and French read safety Organ nations Haye . Pre Tunnel awareness campaigns British motorists taking the ferry to the continent a. _ starting this Summerwill receive yellow stickers Reading. A Quot keep right Quot to remind them of european driving. A. Customs. A us a _ signs Dearing a Arrilar messages will Greet the pm when disembarking. A Quot keep left Campaign will educate. A a a. Motorists going Way. A a a. The project will continue for the Channel Tunnel. A. Organizers the Mon tons so Quot will remember to take the stickers off when they Gold orc. Tunnel a these colossal pieces of i eau Mer i remove Rock pod put. Up Tunna Aik with a laser beam to keep the Driver on course the 700�?Tfoot Long Caterpillar presses curved into the newly exposed Tunnel As h a flags along. The timetable cats of 650 feet to be dug each week. A worker walks one of the main to unties. Quot. A a =. A a yes passports. Ever since the service Tunnel was a a a a Complete last year a Danng traveler could theoretically walk the Border. One German youth has already been caught trying. V a. A. When the trams Start rolling in mid-1993, the nearby. Ferry port of Calais will be threatened with the Joss of. Passengers a quo Quot i Hope the place Down a a says Michael Ellison 32, a London banker stranded tatty ferry terminal after missing . Quot what an awful but a Way will end at san Gatte Normal population 840, Home for the Castlow years to 5,000 mud spattered roughnecks who denied centuries of Anglo French. A they labor i subterranean vaults of steel a a a Concrete and Law. Mud of later Eov tvs 1 t. Sites Quot Headge arters its atop a Gap ii 180-.- Bot a Wida Senatt dug 2-30 toot Abight de in me the. a i is the 1imnels�?zc to to Loo in ask y Quot the Shaft which took build before Edik ovoid in started on the train Tii Oneis Servos As the Badina pod. A overhead Crane like those used for contain inv ships Lowers equipment into the or workshop icy -. Next to the pit stands a Confori office lined with video screens a computers blinking lights and telephones it y looks like a for a Nasa launch from Heie. Popi uksts Monitor e ecu cite and air Towi i into the Tunnel. They emerge Ricy a medical a a teams or Tiret igl Itig Cie Vvs at the first sign Accident a a Quot fire is the thing we re most afraid of says William y Coleman a spokesman for eur Tunnel the Anglo French r. Consortium that will urn the Tunnel we can Call m the a military if we have by c by a by a j. A a eight men Tiave been killed since digging began. Y elevators lower the workers into a Cavern that is the Hub of underground operations a foyer to the three tunnels themselves that shoot of North and a South into utter blackness a a a a a. A a workers have their private subway tiny narrow gauge service trains that trundle them 22 at a time Down the a ,. A tunnels to the digging machines. A a. Magnesium lights barely Dent a gloom deepened by a a line Mist. Tram sirens and Eiml an internal Din. Everything smells of mud or grease but a mostly mud _ _ _ alter depositing the workers Tajh Chearl Tunnel the trams Tow Back carloads of dirt and Rock Hen out of a the seabed 565,000-cubic feet a Day. A. The crud is dumped into five Iron churns arid mixed with water from there the slutty is pumped out to a dam above ground. The water is separated from the muck and .usdd.again. A a y a Quot a 7 Miles Down the Tunnel shafts. -1,250qon. Tunnel Bong a machines three stories High and nicknamed Europa and y tool Horine at Blue Marl the geologic name pm. A. -. A a a a continued on Page 16 travelling the Tunnel will take 35 minutes. During the trip passengers will be Able to s a in their vehicles or stroll about the 1 a. A. A a. England. France English Channel the Overall length of the \ Tunnel is i f a we Miles 24 Miles Vvs a a of it underwater j h above Chalk Cliffs Rise above the Busy Channel work site in Dover England. Left a British employee works beneath a Banner shortly before the first breakthrough in the service Tunnel inmate 1990, /
