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, revealing how the use of modern geophysical techniques and the study of microfossils helped in this respect.
Other topics covered in this book include detailed analyses of the construction of two of the world's largest undersea caverns, the techniques used in the stabilization of major landslip, and the large-scale use of NATM for the excavation and support of a variety of underground structures. This book clearly demonstrates that without the science of geology and the dedication of all involved, the excavation of the Channel Tunnel would not have been completed so successfully.
