The English Channel coastline on a map of France. English Channel: interesting facts about the English Channel. Crossing the English Channel by swimming

The English Channel or English Channel is located between the southern coast of England and the northern coast of France. Through it the Atlantic Ocean connects with the North Sea. Part of the canal is the Pas de Calais Strait or the Dover Canal, as the British call it.

Geographical data

The total length of the strait in question is 560 km. The maximum width in the west is 240 km, the minimum width in the eastern part is 33.1 km. As for the depth, the maximum reaches 174 meters, and the average depth is 63 meters. The total area of ​​the English Channel corresponds to 75 thousand square meters. km.

The western border of the strait runs between Cape Land's End (Land's End) in England and the island of Ile Virgue, located 1.5 km from the French coast of Brittany. On the island is the tallest stone lighthouse in Europe. The eastern border runs between the French lighthouse of Valde, located 6 km east of the city of Calais, and the northern tip of St. Margaret's Bay in England. It is near the port city of Dover.

The Pas de Calais Strait is 33.3 km long with an average depth of 30 meters. On a clear day, standing on the French coast, you can see the English coast. It is here that the most popular route is located for swimmers trying to swim from one shore to another.

English Channel on the map

Name of the strait

The name "English Channel" has been widely used since the early 18th century. It has been designated this way on nautical charts, only in the Dutch manner “Engelse Kanaal”, since the 16th century. As for the French name "English Channel", it was used in France back in the 17th century. From time immemorial, the Spaniards have called the strait "El Canal de la Mancha", and the Portuguese say "Canal da Mancha". The word "mancha" means "spot" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Cities

In terms of population, the English Channel is more densely populated on the English coast than on the French coast. The largest is the English city of Portsmouth with a population of 422 thousand people. Then comes Southampton with a population of 304 thousand people. This is followed by Plymouth with a population of 259 thousand people, Brighton with a population of 156 thousand people, Torbay (130 thousand people) and other cities with smaller populations.

On the French coast, the largest city is Le Havre. Its population is 248 thousand inhabitants. Next comes Calais with 105 thousand inhabitants, Boulogne-sur-Mer with 93 thousand inhabitants and other smaller cities.

For freight traffic, the English Channel is the busiest shipping route in the world. 500 ships pass through it every day. At the same time, ships heading towards the North Sea move along the French coast, and those hurrying to the Atlantic stick to the English shores. This division is associated with a whole series of clashes that were characteristic of the early 70s of the last century. It was after this that two-way traffic was created with a separation zone in the middle.

A railway tunnel has been built under the English Channel. It is double track and has a length of 51 km. Moreover, 39 km pass directly under the strait. The Eurotunnel was put into operation on May 6, 1994. Passengers traveling on the train spend 30 minutes in the tunnel. It connects the English port city of Folkestone and the French town of Coculles, located near Calais.

This engineering structure consists of 3 tunnels. Two of them have rail tracks, and between them there is a service tunnel. Every 380 meters it is connected by passages to working tunnels. It is designed for service personnel and also performs emergency functions. In the event of a breakdown of the rolling stock, passengers can be evacuated using it.

The tunnels have interchanges, which allows trains to move freely. By the way, it is on the left, as on all railways in Great Britain and France. With the advent of the railway tunnel, the number of ferry crossings in the Pas-de-Calais Strait has decreased.

The train leaves the Eurotunnel

The first people to swim and fly across the English Channel

The first time the English Channel was flown across the English Channel was on January 7, 1785 by Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffreys. The flight was attempted to be repeated on June 15, 1785 by the French Pilatre de Rozier and Pierre Romain. But their balloon did not fly from France to England, as the wind direction changed. The ball fell to the ground 5 km from the point of departure, and people died.

The first to swim across the channel was the Englishman Matthew Webb. He began the swim on 24 August 1875 from Admiralty Wharf in Dover. I swam breaststroke and planned to reach the French coast in 5 hours. But a strong current carried the swimmer to the side. So Webb took 21 hours and 45 minutes to swim to Calais. Its zigzag route was 64 km long.

The French pilot Louis Charles Bleriot flew across the strait for the first time on July 25, 1909. A double flight there and back was made by the English pilot Charles Stuart Rolls on June 2, 1910. The first flight with passengers dates back to August 23, 1910. The American pilot John Bevins Moisant committed this risky act. The passengers on the plane were a mechanic and a cat named Fifi.

The first woman swam across the canal on August 23, 1926. It was American swimmer Gertrude Caroline Ederle. Queen of the Waves - that's what they called her in the USA. She crossed the English Channel breaststroke in 14 hours and 39 minutes. The people listed were the first, so their names are widely known in the world.

Ecology

Given the heavy traffic of ships, the strait is experiencing certain environmental problems. They are associated with oil spills and damage to toxic cargo. More than 30% of the world's water pollution incidents occur in the English Channel. The most notorious occurred on January 18, 2007, when the container ship Napoli crashed in the waters of the English Channel.

It carried 41,773 tons of cargo. At the same time, 1684 tons were classified as hazardous. 103 containers fell into the sea. A large oil slick also formed, which negatively affected seabirds. And similar incidents, albeit in smaller quantities, happen in these waters regularly.

 /   / 50.18361; -0.53111(G) (I)Coordinates: 50°11′01″ n. w. 0°31′52″ W d. /  50.18361° N. w. 0.53111° W d. / 50.18361; -0.53111(G) (I) English Channel English Channel


English Channel or English channel(fr. la Manche[IPA (French): ], English English Channel[IFA: [ˈɪŋ.glɪʃ ˈtʃæn.(ə)l]]) is a strait between the coast of France and the island of Great Britain. The world's third longest railway tunnel, the Eurotunnel, has been running under the strait since 1994.

Geographical position

origin of name

The word English Channel was borrowed from the French name for the strait (fr. la Manche- sleeve), which was first mentioned in the 17th century. Apparently, it appeared due to the specific shape of the strait in the form of a sleeve. In many languages, including Slavic, the strait is called in a similar way: in Spanish - El Canal de la Mancha, in Portuguese - Canal da Mancha, German - Ärmelkanal (Ärmel in German - sleeve). The obvious exception is English, where the title English Channel means "English Channel", the origin of which is not known for certain. Perhaps this was due to the settlement of a tribe of Angles (along with the Saxons) on the British island, who managed to oust the Romans from the island and form their own state there for the next five centuries. The Angles came from the territory of modern Denmark, and in the Scandinavian languages ​​the name of the canal coincides with the English version.

Crossing the English Channel by swimming

Swimmers cross the English Channel (more precisely, its narrowest part - Pas de Calais, Strait of Dover, 32 km) in difficult conditions: cold water (15-18 °C in summer), waves and wind (swims take place in waves up to 4 points on the Beaufort scale, inclusive), as well as currents caused by tides. In this regard, over the entire history of the English Channel, about 1000 people were able to cross the English Channel (as of 2012) - this is less than the number of people who conquered Everest.

The men's record since 2012 is held by Trent Grimsey (Australia) (6:55); among women - Czech swimmer Ivetta Hlaváčova (2006, 7 hours 25 minutes 15 seconds).

Crossing the English Channel by vehicle

Ecology

Like any busy shipping line, the English Channel has environmental concerns due to ships carrying toxic cargo and oil tankers passing through in large numbers. Around 40% of UK pollution incidents occur in and around the English Channel. For example, when the container ship Napoli sank in 2007, about 1,700 tons of dangerous cargo were thrown onto the shores of Lyme Bay (Jurassic Coast).

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Notes

Literature

  • // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Excerpt describing the English Channel

“I had the pleasure,” answered Prince Andrei, “not only to participate in the retreat, but also to lose in this retreat everything that was dear to me, not to mention the estates and home... of my father, who died of grief.” I am from Smolensk.
- Eh?.. Are you Prince Bolkonsky? It’s great to meet: Lieutenant Colonel Denisov, better known as Vaska,” said Denisov, shaking Prince Andrei’s hand and peering into Bolkonsky’s face with especially kind attention. “Yes, I heard,” he said with sympathy and, after a short silence, continued : - Here comes the Scythian war. It’s all good, but not for those who take the puff on their own sides. And you are Prince Andgey Bolkonsky? - He shook his head. “It’s very hell, prince, it’s very hell to meet you,” he added again with a sad smile, shaking his hand.
Prince Andrei knew Denisov from Natasha's stories about her first groom. This memory, both sweet and painful, now transported him to those painful sensations that he had not thought about for a long time, but which were still in his soul. Recently, so many other and such serious impressions as leaving Smolensk, his arrival in Bald Mountains, the recent death of his father - so many sensations were experienced by him that these memories had not come to him for a long time and, when they did, had no effect on him. him with the same strength. And for Denisov, the series of memories that Bolkonsky’s name evoked was a distant, poetic past, when, after dinner and Natasha’s singing, he, without knowing how, proposed to a fifteen-year-old girl. He smiled at the memories of that time and his love for Natasha and immediately moved on to what was now passionately and exclusively occupying him. This was the campaign plan he came up with while serving in the outposts during the retreat. He presented this plan to Barclay de Tolly and now intended to present it to Kutuzov. The plan was based on the fact that the French line of operations was too extended and that instead of, or at the same time, acting from the front, blocking the way for the French, it was necessary to act on their messages. He began to explain his plan to Prince Andrei.
“They can’t hold this entire line.” This is impossible, I answer that they are pg"og"vu; give me five hundred people, I will kill them, it’s veg! One system is pag “Tisan.”
Denisov stood up and, making gestures, outlined his plan to Bolkonsky. In the middle of his presentation, the cries of the army, more awkward, more widespread and merging with music and songs, were heard at the place of review. There was stomping and screaming in the village.
“He’s coming himself,” shouted a Cossack standing at the gate, “he’s coming!” Bolkonsky and Denisov moved towards the gate, at which stood a group of soldiers (an honor guard), and saw Kutuzov moving along the street, riding a low bay horse. A huge retinue of generals rode behind him. Barclay rode almost alongside; a crowd of officers ran behind them and around them and shouted “Hurray!”
The adjutants galloped ahead of him into the courtyard. Kutuzov, impatiently pushing his horse, which was ambling under his weight, and constantly nodding his head, put his hand to the cavalry guard’s bad-looking cap (with a red band and without a visor) that he was wearing. Having approached the honor guard of fine grenadiers, mostly cavaliers, who saluted him, he silently looked at them for a minute with a commanding stubborn gaze and turned to the crowd of generals and officers standing around him. His face suddenly took on a subtle expression; he raised his shoulders with a gesture of bewilderment.
- And with such fellows, keep retreating and retreating! - he said. “Well, goodbye, general,” he added and started his horse through the gate past Prince Andrei and Denisov.
- Hooray! hooray! hooray! - they shouted from behind him.
Since Prince Andrei had not seen him, Kutuzov had grown even fatter, flabby, and swollen with fat. But the familiar white eye, and the wound, and the expression of fatigue in his face and figure were the same. He was dressed in a uniform frock coat (a whip hung on a thin belt over his shoulder) and a white cavalry guard cap. He, heavily blurring and swaying, sat on his cheerful horse.
“Whew... whew... whew...” he whistled barely audibly as he drove into the yard. His face expressed the joy of calming a man intending to rest after the mission. He took his left leg out of the stirrup, falling with his whole body and wincing from the effort, he lifted it with difficulty onto the saddle, leaned his elbow on his knee, grunted and went down into the arms of the Cossacks and adjutants who were supporting him.
He recovered, looked around with his narrowed eyes and, glancing at Prince Andrei, apparently not recognizing him, walked with his diving gait towards the porch.
“Whew... whew... whew,” he whistled and again looked back at Prince Andrei. The impression of Prince Andrei's face only after a few seconds (as often happens with old people) became associated with the memory of his personality.
“Oh, hello, prince, hello, darling, let’s go...” he said tiredly, looking around, and heavily entered the porch, creaking under his weight. He unbuttoned and sat down on a bench on the porch.
- Well, what about father?
“Yesterday I received news of his death,” Prince Andrei said briefly.
Kutuzov looked at Prince Andrei with frightened open eyes, then took off his cap and crossed himself: “The kingdom of heaven to him! May God's will be over us all! He sighed heavily, with all his chest, and was silent. “I loved and respected him and I sympathize with you with all my heart.” He hugged Prince Andrei, pressed him to his fat chest and did not let him go for a long time. When he released him, Prince Andrei saw that Kutuzov’s swollen lips were trembling and there were tears in his eyes. He sighed and grabbed the bench with both hands to stand up.
“Come on, let’s come to me and talk,” he said; but at this time Denisov, just as little timid in front of his superiors as he was in front of the enemy, despite the fact that the adjutants at the porch stopped him in angry whispers, boldly, knocking his spurs on the steps, entered the porch. Kutuzov, leaving his hands resting on the bench, looked displeased at Denisov. Denisov, having identified himself, announced that he had to inform his lordship of a matter of great importance for the good of the fatherland. Kutuzov began to look at Denisov with a tired look and with an annoyed gesture, taking his hands and folding them on his stomach, he repeated: “For the good of the fatherland? Well, what is it? Speak." Denisov blushed like a girl (it was so strange to see the color on that mustachioed, old and drunken face), and boldly began to outline his plan for cutting the enemy’s operational line between Smolensk and Vyazma. Denisov lived in these parts and knew the area well. His plan seemed undoubtedly good, especially from the power of conviction that was in his words. Kutuzov looked at his feet and occasionally glanced at the courtyard of the neighboring hut, as if he was expecting something unpleasant from there. From the hut he was looking at, indeed, during Denisov’s speech, a general appeared with a briefcase under his arm.
- What? – Kutuzov said in the middle of Denisov’s presentation. - Ready?
“Ready, your lordship,” said the general. Kutuzov shook his head, as if saying: “How can one person manage all this,” and continued to listen to Denisov.
“I give my honest, noble word to the Hussian officer,” said Denisov, “that I have confirmed Napoleon’s message.
- How are you doing, Kirill Andreevich Denisov, chief quartermaster? - Kutuzov interrupted him.
- Uncle of one, your lordship.
- ABOUT! “We were friends,” Kutuzov said cheerfully. “Okay, okay, darling, stay here at headquarters, we’ll talk tomorrow.” - Nodding his head to Denisov, he turned away and extended his hand to the papers that Konovnitsyn brought him.
“Would your lordship please welcome you to the rooms,” the general on duty said in a dissatisfied voice, “we need to consider the plans and sign some papers.” “The adjutant who came out of the door reported that everything was ready in the apartment. But Kutuzov, apparently, wanted to enter the rooms already free. He winced...
“No, tell me to serve, my dear, here’s a table, I’ll take a look,” he said. “Don’t leave,” he added, turning to Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei remained on the porch, listening to the general on duty.
During the report, outside the front door, Prince Andrei heard a woman’s whispering and the crunching of a woman’s silk dress. Several times, looking in that direction, he noticed behind the door, in a pink dress and a purple silk scarf on her head, a plump, rosy-cheeked and beautiful woman with a dish, who was obviously waiting for the commander to enter. Kutuzov's adjutant explained to Prince Andrei in a whisper that it was the mistress of the house, the priest, who intended to serve bread and salt to his lordship. Her husband met His Serene Highness with a cross in the church, she is at home... “Very pretty,” the adjutant added with a smile. Kutuzov looked back at these words. Kutuzov listened to the report of the general on duty (the main subject of which was criticism of the position under Tsarev Zaimishche) just as he listened to Denisov, just as he listened to the debate of the Austerlitz Military Council seven years ago. He apparently listened only because he had ears, which, despite the fact that there was a sea rope in one of them, could not help but hear; but it was obvious that nothing that the general on duty could tell him could not only surprise or interest him, but that he knew in advance everything that they would tell him, and listened to all of it only because he had to listen, as he had to listen singing prayer service. Everything Denisov said was practical and smart. What the general on duty said was even more sensible and smarter, but it was obvious that Kutuzov despised both knowledge and intelligence and knew something else that was supposed to decide the matter - something else, independent of intelligence and knowledge. Prince Andrei carefully watched the expression on the commander-in-chief's face, and the only expression that he could notice in him was an expression of boredom, curiosity about what the woman's whispering behind the door meant, and a desire to maintain decency. It was obvious that Kutuzov despised intelligence, and knowledge, and even the patriotic feeling that Denisov showed, but he did not despise intelligence, not feeling, not knowledge (because he did not try to show them), but he despised them with something else. He despised them with his old age, his experience of life. One order that Kutuzov made on his own in this report related to the looting of Russian troops. At the end of the report, the reder on duty presented his Serene Highness with a document for his signature about penalties from the army commanders at the request of the landowner for cut green oats. 

English Channel (French La Manche, literally - sleeve)

English Channel, a strait between the northern coast of Western Europe and the island. Great Britain. Together with the Pas de Calais Strait (Strait of Dover), it connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Length about 520 km, width on the W. about 180 km, on E. - 32 km. Fairway depth 35 m, greatest depth 172 m. There are many shallows, especially in the eastern part of the strait. Western winds cause a stable eastern current in the strait at a speed of up to 3 km/hour(in narrow spaces). Tides are semidiurnal, their magnitude in some places reaches 12.2 m(Gulf of Saint-Malo). Fogs are frequent. It has important transport significance. One of the largest routes in terms of cargo turnover from the countries of the North and Baltic Seas to the countries of North and South America, as well as to Africa, Asia and Australia passes through the strait. Main ports: Portsmouth, Southampton, Plymouth (UK). Le Havre, Cherbourg (France). Fisheries are developed (flounder, mackerel, cod, halibut). There is a project (1973) for an underwater tunnel through the Pas de Calais Strait.

Strait of the English Channel.


Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

Synonyms:

See what "English Channel" is in other dictionaries:

    Manche Manche More Information Number 50 Region Basse-Normandie ... Wikipedia

    manche-a-botte- manche à bottes. Wide turn-down cuffs of narrow French justocores from the 70s to the 90s. 17th century Mertsalova 2 427 …

    Manche après la cone- *manche après la cognée. Quit what you started; give up on everything. Retzker. Among the English, impudence does not exclude patience, as among some nations of the continent, who are constantly ready to abandon le manche après la cognée when failure occurs. A. Ionych Saltpeter King.... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

    Manche pagodas- * manche pagode. Sleeve that flares downward. Figure 3 shows a plush visite, which can be peau de loutre or black, with beaver trim on the collar and sleeves, reminiscent of the former manche pagode. New 1885 7 Mosaic… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

    This term has other meanings, see Manche (meanings). Manche Manche ... Wikipedia

    Robert Norman Munsch, English. Robert Norman Munsch, (born June 11, 1945 (19450611), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American-born Canadian children's writer. Contents 1 Biography 2 Awards ... Wikipedia

    - ... Wikipedia

    - (Manche) department in northwestern France, in the hills of the Cotentin Peninsula. Area 6.4 thousand km2. Population 453 thousand people (1971). The administrative center is the city of Saint Lo. Livestock region; occupied under pastures... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    - (La M.) dpt. all in. parts of France, along the shore of the Strait. La M.: 6411 sq. km., the population in 1901 was 491,372. The main city. S. Lo (6500 inhabitants); Cherbourg is more significant (42,938 inhabitants). The climate is maritime, humid, with an even, relatively warm temperature.… … Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

    Manche- (Manche) Manche, department in the region of Basse-Normandie in the west. France; pl. 5938 sq. km, 479,640 people. (1990); adm. center Saint Lo... Countries of the world. Dictionary

    Coordinates: 50°11′01″ N. w. 0°31′52″ W d. / 50.183611° n. w. 0.531111° W d. ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Bridges across the English Channel. British literature 1900 - 2000s
  • Bridges across the English Channel. British literature of the 1900-2000s, Reingold Natalya Igorevna. The book includes rare materials related to English literature of the twentieth century - the author’s interviews with Iris Murdoch, John Fowles, Martin Amis and Piers Paul Reid, as well as essays about famous...

The English Channel or English Channel is a strait located between France and Great Britain. The countries are connected by a road running under water. It ranks third on the list of longest railway tunnels. In ancient times, the strait had other names, for example, Oceanus Britannicus, Canal da Mancha, La Manica or Ermelcanal. The French say English Channel, which means “sleeve,” but what do the British call the bay? They prefer a name like the English Channel. The length of the strait is 578 km, the width at the narrow point is 32 km, at the wide one it reaches 250 km, and flows into the Pas de Calais. The average depth of the strait is 60 meters, and the maximum can be up to 170.

Cities located in the strait

The world map shows that denser populations are found on the shores of England. The city of Portsmouth has 422 thousand inhabitants, Southampton - 304, and Plymouth - 259 thousand people. The largest city near the English Channel in France is Le Havre. The population there is almost 250 thousand people. Calais has a population of 100 thousand and Boulogne-sur-Mer less than 90 thousand people.

Crossing the strait by swimming

Swimmers from all over the world are trying to conquer the English Channel by swimming through the narrowest part (Pas de Calais, the width of the strait is 32 km). Weather conditions complicate this process, because the water temperature in summer does not rise above 18 degrees. Waves and wind sometimes reach 4 points on the Beaufort scale. In addition, sometimes the current changes due to the ebb and flow of the tides. At the moment, a little more than 1 thousand people swam across the strait. Some facts about this:

  1. Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875. The swim took almost 22 hours. The first woman in history was a resident of the United States of America, Gertrude Ederle, who completed the journey in 14 hours and 39 minutes in 1926.
  2. The population of the Soviet Union had never participated in such an unusual sport. However, 12 years ago, Russian resident Pavel Kuznetsov swam across the English Channel in 14 hours and 33 minutes. Besides him, several other compatriots tried their hand. The record was set by Yuri Kudinov, who covered the distance in just 7 hours and 5 minutes.
  3. British resident D. Cobell distinguished himself with the slowest swim. He spent almost 29 hours swimming across the bay.
  4. Philippe Croizon is the first man without arms and legs to swim across the strait. The man used special prosthetics, thanks to which he did not drown. The swim took 14.5 hours.

The English Channel is a famous strait, which is also called the English Channel. This canal separates Great Britain and the French coast. Translated from French, the name of the strait literally means “hand”.

The English Channel flows into the Pas de Calais Strait. These two straits connect the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The strait has a length of 578 kilometers. Its maximum depth is 172 meters.

Due to the large number of shoals, especially in the east, and frequent fogs, navigation on the English Channel is difficult. A westerly wind blows over the strait almost all the time, which is the reason for the constant eastern current, the speed of which reaches 3 kilometers per hour in the narrowest places.

The English Channel became famous due to the construction of a huge tunnel.

The Channel Tunnel is the longest in the world. This is simply an amazing piece of engineering. Its length is more than 50 kilometers, 38 of which were laid underwater along the seabed. The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994 as a modern transport system connecting the British Isle to the continent.

Over the past two hundred years, people have developed many ways to cross the English Channel. It was first proposed to build a tunnel in 1802, and the Committee for its creation was formed already in 1892. There were even proposals to build a bridge over the English Channel. In 1986, the French and British governments received an offer to companies to seriously develop blueprints for the tunnel. A year later, the best one was chosen out of 9 projects.

In reality, there are three tunnels: one service and two railway. Construction work began on British shores in December 1987, and in France three months later. The giant machines, equipped with rotating cutting heads, took a whole month to lay every kilometer. In total, the construction of the tunnel took three years.

The tunnels were dug an average of 45 meters deeper than the seabed. When the two parts of the service tunnel were separated by a hundred meters, workers manually dug a small tunnel that connected them. The two halves met in 1990. Two railway tunnels were completed on May 22 and June 28, 1991.

Another seven months later, they finished laying all three tunnels and began laying the rails. During this time period, engineers were developing railway terminals near Calais in France and Folkestone in the UK. The tunnel was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand on May 6, 1994.

Special trains equipped with platforms for cars and passenger carriages run every hour. In total, 350 electric trains pass through the tunnel during the day, which can transport up to 200 thousand tons of cargo. Naturally, luggage control is very strong, if you want to experiment, put MMG in your backpack and you won’t go anywhere. After some time you will be released, because... The MMG is not a firearm. Cars use the tunnel trains as a moving highway. They enter the carriage from one side and leave 35 minutes later from the other. Electric locomotives travel at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour.

The entire construction of the tunnel cost 10 billion pounds - twice as much as originally planned. One year after its official opening, Eurotunnel announced a loss of £925 million - one of the largest negative amounts in UK corporate history. And in 1996, a fire occurred in the tunnel due to a truck that caught fire, which suspended its work for six months.

Coast of the English Channel (English Channel)

Despite the fact that the tunnel project was insanely expensive and to this day has not yet been recouped, the structure is still an example of modern engineering excellence that takes functionality and safety into account to an equal degree.

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