Page 103 - Built Expressions - Online Construction Magazine - November 2014 Issue

atkinsglobal.com Connectivity Set Free Contract Complexities The Channel Tunnel proposal was originally conceived as a combination of two functions: financing and construction so it is natural that the two groups of promoters were banks and construction companies. The construction side was handled by a massive consortium of 10 contractors called TransManche Link, together with five banks, making 15 founder shareholders who put up the initial i.ytimg.com equity of £47 million. The founder shareholders were evenly divided between English and French like almost everything else in this project. Most of the engineering work not just in digging the tunnel but also in setting up the physical side of the operations. This was a design and build contract between Eurotunnel and TML. The Anglo- French Treaty and the Concession set the framework within which Eurotunnel operates. Article 1 of the Treaty says ‘The Channel Tunnel Link shall be financed without recourse to government funds or to government guarantees of a financial “Spoil” was the name used for the Rabies Scared the Workers or commercial nature’. chunks of chalk removed by the TBMs One of the biggest fears about the The Concession was awarded by while digging the Channel Tunnel Channel Tunnel was held by the the British and French governments since millions of cubic feet of chalk British. In addition to worrying to Eurotunnel in January 1986. One of would be removed during the project; about invasions from the European the features that led to the award was a place had to be found to deposit all mainland, the British were worried the fnancing plan and the very early the debris. about rabies. Since Great Britain commitment in principle by 31 leading The British Solution to Spoil: After had been rabies-free since 1902, banks to underwrite the debt part of much discussion the British decided to they worried that infected animals the funding. dump their portion of the spoil into the could come through the tunnel and sea. However so as not to pollute the reintroduce the disease to the island. Critical Period English Channel with chalk sediment A lot of design elements were added to The critical period in the formation a gigantic seawall made of sheet metal the Channel Tunnel to make sure this of Eurotunnel was between January and concrete had to be built to keep could not happen. and September 1986 when the 10 the chalk debris contained. Since the construction companies and fve chunks of chalk were piled higher Illegal Immigrants banks negotiated among themselves than sea level the resulting land was The British were afraid of both two of the key contracts, namely created totally about 73 acres and was invasions and of rabies but no one the Construction Contract and the eventually called Samphire Hoe. had considered that thousands of detailed term sheet for the credit The French Solution to Spoil: Unlike illegal immigrants would try to use facilities. A private placement of the British who was concerned about the Channel Tunnel to enter into the shares with institutions was launched ruining the nearby Shakespeare Cliff, United Kingdom. Many additional in October 1986. This reduced the the French were able to take their security devices have had to be 15 original promoters to minority portion of the spoil and dump it nearby; installed to try to inhibit and stop this shareholders. creating a new hill it is now landscaped. large infux of illegal immigrants. Vol: 3 Issue: 11 November 2014 Built Expressions PG103