Prime Minister Thatcher and President Mitterrand announce that Eurotunnel have won the concession to build the Channel Tunnel.
The Channel Tunnel was a dream that took 200 years and over 30 attempts to become a reality. The French had been committed to the idea of a fixed link between France and the UK for most of the previous century but were suspicious of the British (who had cancelled the project in 1975, leaving the French to pick up half the cost). The French also doubted the feasibility of the British completing the project without some public funding. However, in 1984, the governments of Britain and France - having first agreed to set common safety and environmental standards and to guarantee the project against political risks such as war - decided to try again. By mid-1987, difficulties having been overcome, both governments were ready to ratify a treaty giving the green light for the project to begin and a concessionary agreement was signed with Eurotunnel which would allow them to build and operate the Channel Tunnel for a period of 55 years. Thatcher described the Tunnel as "a project that can show visibly how the technology of this age has moved to link the Continent and Britain closer together." For her, the Tunnel would boost the private commercial sector and provide tangible evidence of her commitment to the ideal of national recovery spearheaded by free enterprise. From the outset, she stipulated that no government money would be available. In France, the Tunnel was one of several major infrastructure developments initiated in the early years of President Mitterrand's first term in office. The President was following several of his predecessors in giving his personal stamp of approval to a project designed to create nationwide economic and technological benefits. However, the major difference in this case was that the state would not have any financial involvement. In addition, the Tunnel would also help to revitalize the run-down, economy of northwest France, which was experiencing high unemployment. For both the Tunnel offered an opportunity to leave a legacy.
Size: 3304px × 2142px
Location: Lille, France.
Photo credit: © qaphotos.com / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -operation, 55, 1986, achievement, adit, agreement, amazing, anglo-french, authority, boring, bridge, britain, build, builder, building, calais, canterbury, cave, cavern, ceremony, chamber, channel, community, concession, construct, construction, constructor, consultant, continent, contractor, digging, eec, employee, engineer, engineering, europe, european, euroshuttle, eurostar, eurotunnel, event, excavation, fixed, folkestone, france, franco-british, gb, government, great, greatest, historic, history, industrial, industry, infrastructure, international, land, licence, lille, link, manager, manche, miner, mining, minister, mitterrand, operate, passage, passageway, permission, president, prime, project, qa, rail, railway, sanction, shaft, shuttle, site, staff, subterranean, subway, success, surface, surveyor, technology, tgv, thatcher, train, travel, treaty, triumph, tunnel, tunneller, tunnelling, tunnels, uk, underground, undersea, underwater, victory, worker, workforce, years
