Channel Tunnel (between UK and France) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Channel Tunnel (between UK and France) - Essay Example Apart from that it also has a significant role in both the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Community of European Railways (CER). This channel is also popularly called as the â€Å"chunnel† because of its three-way tunnel encompassing rail connections. It connects at one end with Folkestone in England to Calais in France at the other one. After the treaty for the construction of rail link between France and England was signed in 1986, the consortium, which was responsible for carrying out the managerial tasks of this project, started to face severe problems. These problems were mostly based on fiscal (economic) matters. Apart from the money hurdle which was being faced with at the time, meeting the already set schedule and the most important of the lot, ensuring safety for the rails as well as the passengers traveling in them was a much bigger problem than the other ones. By 1990, many people started to have serious doubts whether this project would ever be completed. There was a do or die situation attached to this project and the authorities at the helm of affairs really had to do something solid to restore the confidence of people that was lost from them in this project. Channel Tunnel’s fire of 1986 is one classic example of the handling of fire regime within the tunnel and how the same should be tackled in the wake of another fire instance within the mega structure. When it became quite evident that this project was in serious jeopardy, Eurotunnel called upon the resources of Bechtel to play a bigger role in the accomplishment of what was left at that moment of time, a sheer dream. Bechtel’s involvement began in 1987.