Total length50,450 m
44,254Shoelace lengths
139Cruise ship lengths
76,439Pillow lengths
50.45 km; 37.9 km under the sea
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Channel Tunnel
The 50-km undersea rail link between England and France/Bridges & Tunnels
The Channel Tunnel — known affectionately as the Chunnel — runs 50.45 km beneath the English Channel between Folkestone, England, and Coquelles, France. Completed in 1994, it consists of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a smaller service tunnel in between. At its deepest point, the tunnel is 75 meters below the seabed. It took six years to build and was, at the time, the most expensive construction project ever undertaken. Eurostar trains make the crossing in about 35 minutes.
Measurements
Depth below seabed75 m
7.9 quadrillionthsLight-years
3.9 tenthsGateway Arch heights
Maximum depth beneath the Channel floor
Running tunnel diameter7.6 m
13.6 billionSalt crystals
27.1Football lengths
Each of two main rail tunnels
Service tunnel diameter4.8 m
2.5 hundredthsGateway Arch heights
7.38Oboe lengths
6.6 tenthsSoccer goal widths
Central service and evacuation tunnel
Maximum train speed160 m/s
12.9Usain Bolt sprints
4.7 tenthsSpeeds of sound
100 billionContinental drifts
Eurostar at 300 km/h in the tunnel section
Crossing time2,100 s
420,000Housefly wingbeats
8.75TV commercial breaks
About 35 minutes for a Eurostar train
Excavated material4.9 billion kg
245 millionCurling stones
490 millionBicycles
About 4.9 million tonnes of spoil removed