Contractors preparing 9,000 tonne rail bridge to be slid into position over high-speed line on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
There were many impressive engineering feats on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. One was the sliding into position over a Bank Holiday weekend of a 9,000 tonne reinforced concrete rail bridge, 111 feet in length which had been prefabricated close by. This new bridge enabled the existing North Kent Rail Line to be carried over the CTRL. A crew of 7,000 worked around the clock for 74 hours to excavate 60,000 tonnes of earth and, using 30 hydraulic jacks, slide the bridge into position. The £ billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now High Speed One) was built between 1998-2007 and partly funded by the European Union, it forms a section of the Trans European Rail Network. It is basically a French-style high-speed rail line linking London with the Channel Tunnel, the Eurostar trains were developed on proven technology from the French TGV high-speed system. Stations on the CTRL are the existing Ashford International and new stations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford. The line ends at the rebuilt St. Pancras. Fourteen new tunnels were constructed, the longest being the London Tunnel which is long from Ripple Lane to Stratford, after which the line briefly comes to the surface at Stratford Station. Five huge shafts of diameter ventilate the twin bore, single-track tunnels and provide emergency access and evacuation points. The line passes in tunnel under the River Thames and crosses the M25 at Thurrock. For the Thames crossing (a 3km twin-bore tunnel), the line drops 1 in 40 down under the river and then climbs 1 in 40 up, curving at the same time. The CTRL then negotiates the M25 motorway, going under the southbound and over the northbound carriageway. Lengthy loops at two places along the route allow trains to be overtaken so freight and faster domestic trains can be mixed with 300 kph Eurostar high-speed services. In total, the new line took 9 years to build and comprises 109kms of new track, 152 new bridges, 3 viaducts and 14 new tunnels.
Size: 4064px × 2704px
Location: North Kent, UK
Photo credit: © qaphotos.com / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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