The Depth is Far Too Great to Admit of the Use of the Diving-Bell’ Or: An 1862 Proposal for a Channel Railway

Although the Channel Tunnel was opened for business in 1994, six years after the first tunnelling begun in France, the idea for a means of transport across the Channel between England and mainland Europe is by no means a modern idea.

As early as 1802 the idea was put to Napoleon, when a French engineer, Albert Mathieu proposed a tunnel under the Channel. His plan, which now seems rather quaint, was for the tunnel to be illuminated by oil lamps and have horse drawn coaches take passengers and goods between England and France. In the middle of the Channel would be an artificial island for the carriage to put down its tired horses and pick up new ones.

Around thirty years later, another Frenchman, Aime Thome de Gamond became the first person to perform hydrographical and geological surveys on the English Channel between Dover and Calais, to asses the practicability of an underwater crossing.

He came up with several ideas, before, in 1856, he presented Napoleon III with a proposal for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez in Calais, to Eastwater Point in England. His proposal for the tunnel was, he estimated, to cost around 170 million francs – less that £7 million.

Six years later, in 1862, an English engineer, Mr. Chambers, put forth a plan to the periodical, The London Journal, and as I thumbed through the said periodical of 1862 earlier this week I came by the article, and, having taken my first trip on the Eurostar late last year, decided to read on.

The article gives a brief introduction, and then reprints Chambers’ idea, including his cost estimates, as he compares his plan to that of Aime Thome de Gamond from six years previous. Here is the article, and the picture that caught my eye:

 The important and interesting discussion of the feasibility of connecting the railways of England and Continental Europe is again occupying public attention.

The question of a Channel Railway which would effect this object is one which involves many considerations of vital importance to us all. Can the natural barrier which the ocean has placed between England and the Continent be removed without obstructing the Channel, and without endangering our national safety in the event of a war, especially a war with France?

It has long been a matter of doubt whether such a connexion was desirable, and whether its influence on trade and traffic, and on the communities interested in it, would be sufficiently beneficial to warrant the expenditure.

The doubts, however, of the expediency of a Channel Railway have already been resolved in its favour, and a competent authority has expressed the opinion, “that such a scheme, if carried out, would be remunerative to shareholders, and highly advantageous to the countries on both sides of the Channel.” As the same periodical gives it as the decision of the leading scientific, literary, and commercial authorities, that the scheme is really feasible, and that it will doubtless be accomplished some day, we will give, in Mr. Chambers’ own words, the plan which he proposes for carrying out this scheme, with the probable cost of the construction, and his estimate of the profit which would accrue from the working of the Channel Railway: -

It is sixty years since a scheme for a roadway under the English Channel was laid before Napoleon. After the introduction of railways, several plans were proposed to connect the roads of England and the Continent. The one that attracted most attention was the plan of a French engineer, in 1857. He proposed to form thirteen islands in the Channel, by carrying material out to sea, dig down through the said islands into terra firma, and tunnel east and west.

The consideration which this plan received in certain influential quarters, and from the scientific men, warrants the belief that any feasible scheme would receive more countenance now, as the removal of the French passport system, and the adoption of the new commercial treaty, will greatly increase the trade and travel between England and the Continent.

The plan I propose will give a double line of rails for two gauges, capable of carrying all ordinary trains at the usual speed on the best roads. The work could be completed in five years in a substantial manner, for £12,000,000, and the statistics of trade and travel between England and the Continent warrant the assumption that the revenue would equal ten per cent per annum on this amount. My scheme consists in submerging tubes of suitable demensions, and loading them down, and makes ample provision for ventilation, light, safety and comfort, while the shore embankments would form magnificent harbours of refuge on each side of the Channel. I will be happy to show plans, sections, elevations and detailed specifications and estimates to parties interested.

The method of joining the tubes under water has been pronounced by competent engineers ingenious, simple and efficient.

(Estimated) Abstract of Cost

1 Deep Sea Tower, or Ventilator,

placed in 27 fathoms……………………………...£485,000

2 ditto, in 11 fathoms……………………………...£475,000

                                                                            --------------------------

                                                                            £960,000

264 Tubes, each 400 ft. long, 25 ft.

diam., @ “23 per ton………………………………£4,199,184

528 Flanges for ditto, @ £125 each……………..£63,360

Laying ditto, @ £4,000 each tube of

400 ft………………………………………………..£1,056,000

                                                                            ---------------------------

                                                                              £5,318,544

1,320 Anchors, or Boxes, for stone-loading,

5 each tube, each 23 tons @ £16………………£485,760

Levelling Bottom, and Covering Tubes with

Broken Stones &c. 7,431,108 yards, @ 5s……£1,857,777

Embankments, Blocks of Stone, Chalk, &c.,

2,900,000 yards, @ 5s…………………………...£725,000

Tunnel Approaches……………………………….£400,000

Roadway, Triple Rails for Two Gauges………...£150,000

Engines and Furnishings for Ventilators………..£30,000

1,000 Lamps and Fittings, @ £20 each………...£20,000

Preliminaries, Tools and Contingencies………..£2,052,919

                                                                             ---------------------------

                                                              Total……£12,000,000

(Estimated) Probable Revenue

1,095,000 Passengers per annum,

@ 8s 9d………………………………………………£479,062

912,500 Tons freight, ditto @ 12s 6d……………...£570,312

Express Mails, Bullion, Extra Baggage,

Per annum (say)…………………………………….£250,000

                                                                              ----------------------------

                                                                                     £1,299,375

(Estimated) Annual Expenditure…………………..£76,187

                                                                              ---------------------------

Nett revenue………………………………………...£1,223,187

The estimates of the French engineer above alluded to, made from data furnished by the railway and steamboat companies in 1856 were –

Freight and passage……………………………….£1,041,666

My estimates, 1861, without data, or any knowledge of his, were –

Freight and passage……………………………….£1,049,375

A scientific contemporary considers the means proposed by Mr. Chambers for guiding the tubes correctly to their position under water as insufficient, but he by no means doubts the practicability of placing the sections of a large tube correctly on the bottom of the Straits of Dover.

As regards the joining of the sections, he sees no insurmountable difficulty, as the immense hydrostatic pressure forcing the flanges together would, in his opinion, right the tube, even if it were somewhat out of line. The arrangements for keeping down the tubes are considered by the same authority sufficient and reliable as far as they go; and, on the whole, there seems to be a general conviction of the feasibility of connecting the railway systems of England and the Continent by means of a roadway with submerged tubes.

The peculiar feature of Mr. Chalmers’ scheme, which should not be lost sight of, is, as our contemporary remarks, the hydrostatic pressure, in enabling him to join his tubes from the inside, as the depth is far too great to admit of the use of the diving-bell for connecting the sections on the outside. The value of this principle can only be tested by experiments, for which the forthcoming summer will be the most convenient time, as the  International Exhibition of 1862 will bring together scientific men from all parts of the globe.
Chambers’ idea is not wholly dissimilar to what we currently have. But, it seems his idea, like many others, would fall by the wayside. Three years later, in 1865, a group led by Conservative MP George Ward Hunt proposed the idea of a channel tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone. (A year later, When Benjamin Disraeli became Prime Minister, he would appoint Hunt as Chancellor, replacing Gladstone) but, the costs being too high, nothing came of it.

The closest Victorian attempt at a Channel crossing came in 1870, when engineer William Low attempted to construct the crossing. His effort was the first practical attempt after so many proposals and ideas. He bought land near Dover and Calais in order to carry out the scheme, but, as the British government had not funded his plans, Low had to pay for the project himself. 

William Low

The first tunnel chamber was excavated at Shakespeare Cliff near Dover in 1870, but his plans were ended by the Franco-Prussian war and the fact that he ran out of money.

In 1881, however, Low, by now aged 70, recommenced his work and actually managed to complete over 1000 yards of the tunnel at Dover, until fears were raised that the French could use the tunnel to invade Britain and he was stopped.

It was not until 1986 – 184 years after Mathieu’s first proposal and, and 105 years after William Low gave up on his attempt, that the Treaty of Canterbury – a document giving the go ahead for the design and build of the first Channel Tunnel connecting England to mainland Europe – was signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Miterand.

Had the Victorians had the technology that we had in the late 20^th century, the Channel Tunnel could have been a very different piece of engineering.