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28th September 1973
Page 62
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Page 62, 28th September 1973 — management
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

matters by John Darker AMB M

Channel Tunnel what's in it for road hauliers?

AS has been reasonably predictable for some time, the Government has decided to proceed with the construction of the Chunnel, subject to Parliamentary approval.

By a strange paradox, there were bombings in London on the day Mr John Peyton announced the go-ahead. For about 150 years "defenceobjections have triumphed whenever the tunnel was being seriously discussed. Now, members of the Government have convinced themselves that the risk of sabotage is acceptable. -Any transport activity can be sabotaged by a maniac: if the authorities were deterred because of this slight risk, nothing would ever be accomplished," said Mr Peyton, at the DoE Press conference commending the White Paper, The Channel Tunne4 Cmnd 5430, HMSO 68p.

Road transport operators have not taken a great deal of interest in the idea of a fixed crossing of the Channel since a bridge or a combination of bridges and tunnels were ruled out as too expensive. Until the precise details of the arrangements for getting loaded lorries and coaches through the tunnel are known, no detailed analysis of the benefits, or what are called dis-benefits to road transport can be made.

Fortunes for hauliers But since the project is now rolling forward it may be useful to look at some obvious factors. Any project that is likely to cost well over £1000m is important to the national economy, and hence to road transport. The civil engineering transport needs alone could well make fortunes for a number of strategically placed road hauliers.

At the outset, it needs to be emphasized that the tunnel may never be built. It is as true today as it was in 1966 — when Barbara Castle said the tunnel would take four years to build at between £157m and £171m, and should be opened by 1975 — that many factors could arise to prevent its completion. The real interest will be in 1975 when the serious boring across the Channel may begin. The public furore when the two main tunnels and the service tunnel link in mid-channel can be imagined. If that stage is reached it is quite certain that a vast amount of haulage work will have been generated, to the benefit of road hauliers.

It is an extraordinary fact that no final decision has yet been made as to the diameter of the main tunnels. The ludicrously detailed cost estimates have assumed that these will be bored to a diameter of 6.85m, which would allow lorries at least 4m high to be carried on normal wagons and tourist cars on double-deck wagons. The service tunnel diameter of 4.5m has, apparently. been decided.

Says the White Paper: "For the main tunnels, the choice is between advantages of carrying larger vehicles and the cost of making room for them. A survey has been made of the size of vehicles crossing the Channel, and the economics of wagons with special small wheels for carrying the larger vehicles are also being examined.

It may be imagined that in the coming years there will be more massive researches to decide whether the tunnel should carry merely freight containers, cars and coaches and in addition, loaded lorries.

About 3m cubic metres of spoil would be removed from the tunnel on the British side, most of it to be used for levelling and landscaping the terminal area. Local authorities, and other interests, are being consulted to ensure the minimum disturbance from the transport and deposit of material. From this, it appears likely that there will be some substantial tipping contracts for wide-awake specialist hauliers.

For the tunnel construction itself the transport of cement, and of the concrete or cast-iron lining segments, will entail much road haulage. The sand and gravel aggregate required is estimated to be of the order of 2-Irn tonnes over about five years, which compares with a present annual production in south-east England as a whole of 40rn tonnes. There will be massive movements of bricks, cement, steelwork, etc, for the building of the tunnel terminal at Cheriton and the freight yard at Sevington, near Ashford.

While it may not be certain that a substantial amount of the steelwork, and other materials, needed for the new £120m electrified rail link from London to Cheriton would be hauled by road, it is highly likely that this would be so. It is quite on the cards that the new rail link, built to the standards of Continental rail stock — which is appreciably larger dimensionally than BR rolling stock — will be used as a lever to persuade the Government to increase the rail gauge on the main BR trunk routes. This operation would cost an immense sum: but without it the tunnel can never be used to its maximum efficiency for freight movements.

Cheaper transport The White Paper suggests that the tunnel would have beneficial effects on the economically less prosperous regions in Britain by cheapening the transport of exports to Europe. The percentage of "unitizable" freight which may be diverted to the tunnel — should it, be open — by 1980 varies from 21 per cent for the Yorkshire /Humberside area to 60 per cent for the Dover /Folkestone area. Some 83 per cent of freight going by sea ferries in 1970 is considered suitable for tunnel transit — which explains the natural hostility of certain ferry operators.

British Rail's own ferry ships were said by Richard Marsh, at the Press conference, to be multi-purpose; he was not worried about finding alternative work for them.

Some of the technical features of the ferry trains will cause road transport engineers to ponder: "Vehicle-ferry wagons should be provided with fire doors or curtains with a resistance time of at least half an hour to prevent the spread of smoke along the train in the event of a fire occurring on board." The operating speed of freight trains through the tunnel has yet to be determined but at even half of 160 mph — the speed it is said express passenger trains will eventually run at — the maintenance of fire doors or curtains would present problems.

On clearances, there is a requirement that the interior width of ferry wagons for the transport of accompanied road vehicles must be at least 1.25m wider, in the case of single deck wagons, than the widest vehicles normally to be carried. "Road vehicles must be loaded centrally to allow a clear passage way on each side and to avoid obstructing emergency doors".

How long to load?

Just how long it would take to load a train with lorries, all nicely positioned and adequately restrained, is anyone's guess.

The White Paper says something about the consequences of service interruptions through the tunnel. ". . . Extra parking space could be made available within the terminal by temporary use of various buffer and landscaped areas. The total parking capacity would thus be sufficient for about 6000 vehicles, or more than two hours' peak traffic in one direction "In the unlikely event of a prolonged interruption emergency accommodation could be provided for a further 10,000 vehicles on Dibgate Camp, and arrangments would also be made for warning tunnelbound traffic of any substantial hold-up in the tunnel well before it reached the terminal area, and for the use of the parking spaces attached to the motorway service areas."

It must be hoped that stranded motorists and lorry drivers who are faced with a delay of unknown duration will not starve to death before they are given sustenance! For lorry drivers, sleeper cabs and plentiful refreshments will be indicated.

fewer in 1990 with the tunnel than without it, is mind-boggling. As stressed earlier, if the main trunk network of British Railways is improved to the standards of the authorized .£120m London /tunnel rail link the freight carrying potential of the tunnel would be enormously enhanced.

What happens if a train breaks down? Passengers would make their way via walkways to "adits" spaced every 250m giving access to the service tunnel where the forced draft ventilation is designed not to incommode maintenance staff working there. Some sort of transport system will be required in the service tunnel to enable the emergency services to reach any part of the tunnel quickly, even if the main running tunnels were to be blocked. Evacuation of passengers — and hopefully lorry drivers — must not take longer than 90 minutes.

Will the tunnel pay? Annex 8 of the White Paper says there could be a net surplus of £962.2m in the year 2004 — and 50 years after the tunnel is opened all profits would be shared by British and French taxpayers. It's a nice thought, but there's many a slip...

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Locations: Cheriton, London

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