Travelling along the bottom of the sea

Back in 1987 news of plans to build a road between the United Kingdom and France inside a tunnel that would run along the sea bed went global. The aim of this was to enable travelling between the two countries to become easier and quicker. It had been mooted since 1802 that a link should be established between the British Isles and the continent and some ad even been started and aborted. There had been concerns about defence, rabies and also the cost but finally the UK’s parliament had given the nod, even though the French had already begun digging already.

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Ground work began on 1988 with a specially designed drill breaking the soil and working its way on a downward route before travelling across the channel and re-emerging in France. This was an incredible achievement as the work was thought to be dangerous and required some extremely planning.  Work and communication between the two sides of Channel tunnel group and France Manche was planned down to the last detail. As soon as the timescales for the tunnel were released an increased number of people in the UK started looking at Property for sale in France.

The Tunnel took from 1988 to 1994 to build with Englishman Graham Flagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette met in the middle to much applause and celebration captured at the time by the worlds media. It had taken just 6 years with just a year’s overrun time, but they had done it and created one of the modern wonders of the world. The budget is considered to be totally worth it all they did over spend by eighty percent of the original costing.

So now people wanting to travel to France for a day trip can make the most of their time in the country rather than spending most of their time in an airport or ferry terminal. It has also meant that there has been a rise in the number of people choosing to either own a second property in France or moving to the country permanently as they can easily be back on British soil within a few hours. Incidentally if you are looking for Property for sale in France available in France it is worth taking a look at the variety of companies who can help you.

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Back to the tunnel. It was seen as a feat of engineering that this tunnel operates so far below the sea level and a series of safety mechanisms were put into place to deal with any potential emergencies or issues that may occur whilst people are travelling in the tunnel. Despite a a fire and cold weather the tunnel has operated safely and securely without incident for 24 years. It remains a life line for tourism and trade.