A tunnel is an underground passage way. Tunneling is an increasingly important branch of civil engineering in mining and transport.
Between 2180 and 2160 BC a tunnel was built under the Euphrates River to connect the two halves of Babylon. It was the biggest underwater tunnel until one was built beneath the River Thames in 1824.
In 6BC the Ancient Greeks dug a tunnel over 1,000m (3281ft) long through a mountain by digging from both ends and meeting in the middle. Ingenious surveying and geometrical techniques were used to ensure the two tunnels didn't miss.
In the 19th century there were two major advances in tunnelling: the use of compressed air within the tunnel to balance the external pressure of water, and of the tunnel shield to support the face and assist excavation.
Between 1810 and 1840, wealthy English tobacco merchant Joseph Williamson had an extensive network of tunnels constructed under Liverpool. The purpose of the tunnels is completely unknown but may simply have been Williamson's philanthropic desire to provide working men with employment.
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| Pixiebay |
HISTORY
Between 2180 and 2160 BC a tunnel was built under the Euphrates River to connect the two halves of Babylon. It was the biggest underwater tunnel until one was built beneath the River Thames in 1824.
In 6BC the Ancient Greeks dug a tunnel over 1,000m (3281ft) long through a mountain by digging from both ends and meeting in the middle. Ingenious surveying and geometrical techniques were used to ensure the two tunnels didn't miss.
In the 19th century there were two major advances in tunnelling: the use of compressed air within the tunnel to balance the external pressure of water, and of the tunnel shield to support the face and assist excavation.
Between 1810 and 1840, wealthy English tobacco merchant Joseph Williamson had an extensive network of tunnels constructed under Liverpool. The purpose of the tunnels is completely unknown but may simply have been Williamson's philanthropic desire to provide working men with employment.
The Reigate Road Tunnel is the oldest road tunnel in England and it runs under the site of Reigate Castle. The castle was built in the 12th century and it was once an important stronghold for the English crown. The tunnel was built in 1823 to improve traffic flow between Reigate and London. It is 55 yards long and it is made of brick. The tunnel is now pedestrianized, but it is still a popular tourist destination.
The first purpose –built passenger rail tunnel was built in 1830. It was the 2,514 ft Tyler Hill Tunnel in South East England on the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. The height of the tunnel was only twelve feet (3.7 m) and when the South Eastern Railway's own network eventually reached Canterbury in 1846, the locomotives were modified with shorter chimneys and lowered boiler.
The Severn Tunnel was opened by the Great Western Railway on January 8, 1886. Running for more than four miles under the Severn River, it remained the longest mainline rail tunnel in the UK for 121 years until the building of tunnels for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
"Burro" Schmidt a gold miner in the Mojave Desert started digging a tunnel through the mountains to safely transport his ore to the smelter in 1900. In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion and dug on. He completed the tunnel in 1938 years, having moved 5,800 tons of granite with a pick.
The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco begun service on February 3, 1918. At 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long, it remains one of the world's longest streetcar or light-rail tunnels.
The Holland Tunnel opened to traffic on November 13, 1927 connecting Manhattan in New York City to the east and Jersey City to the west under the Hudson River. It was the first mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel.
The Lincoln Tunnel, an approximately 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey on the west bank with Midtown Manhattan on the east bank opened on December 22, 1937. It charged $0.50 per car.
In 1963, a Turkish man tore down a wall in his house and noticed an enormous and complex tunnel system behind it. He had rediscovered the ancient underground city, Derinkuyu. It was large enough to hold 20,000 people and contained chapels, storage rooms and stables.
The first purpose –built passenger rail tunnel was built in 1830. It was the 2,514 ft Tyler Hill Tunnel in South East England on the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. The height of the tunnel was only twelve feet (3.7 m) and when the South Eastern Railway's own network eventually reached Canterbury in 1846, the locomotives were modified with shorter chimneys and lowered boiler.
The Severn Tunnel was opened by the Great Western Railway on January 8, 1886. Running for more than four miles under the Severn River, it remained the longest mainline rail tunnel in the UK for 121 years until the building of tunnels for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
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| The Severn Tunnel entrance on the English side |
"Burro" Schmidt a gold miner in the Mojave Desert started digging a tunnel through the mountains to safely transport his ore to the smelter in 1900. In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion and dug on. He completed the tunnel in 1938 years, having moved 5,800 tons of granite with a pick.
The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco begun service on February 3, 1918. At 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long, it remains one of the world's longest streetcar or light-rail tunnels.
The Holland Tunnel opened to traffic on November 13, 1927 connecting Manhattan in New York City to the east and Jersey City to the west under the Hudson River. It was the first mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel.
The Lincoln Tunnel, an approximately 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey on the west bank with Midtown Manhattan on the east bank opened on December 22, 1937. It charged $0.50 per car.
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| Entrance to Lincoln Tunnel on New Jersey side by Dan Souza |
In 1963, a Turkish man tore down a wall in his house and noticed an enormous and complex tunnel system behind it. He had rediscovered the ancient underground city, Derinkuyu. It was large enough to hold 20,000 people and contained chapels, storage rooms and stables.
William Lyttle (1931–2010) was a British civil engineer who gained fame by digging an extensive network of tunnels under his London home. Known as the "Mole Man of Hackney", Lyttle spent around 40 years digging a network of tunnels up to 59 feet (18 m) long beneath his house. When the authorities discovered the extent of his burrowing, he was rehoused on the top floor of a high-rise to prevent digging.
A group of college students used garden spades to tunnel under the Berlin Wall into East Berlin in 1964, allowing 57 people to escape to the West. The students moved enough dirt to fill four eighteen-wheeler big rigs; one of them went on to design tunnels professionally.
There were notable developments in tunnel linings in the second half of the 20th century, for example concrete segments in steel liner plates, and in the use of rotary diggers and cutters, and of explosives.
The St. Gotthard Tunnel opened in Switzerland in 1980. Stretching from Goschenen to Airolo it was the world's then longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.224 km).
The Channel Tunnel connects the UK and France underneath the English Channel. It was opened on May 6, 1994 in a ceremony held first in Calais, France and then in Folkestone, England.
RECORDS
The Seikan Tunnel connects the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō by rail. It is 53.9-kilometre (33.5 mi) long, of which 23.3 km (14.5 mi) are crossing the Tsugaru Strait undersea. It is the world's longest tunnel with an undersea segment (the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK to France, while shorter, has a longer undersea segment). The tunnel opened in 1988.
The Lærdal Tunnelis a 24.51-kilometre-long (15.23 mi) long road tunnel connecting Lærdal and Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway opened in 2000. It is the longest road tunnel in the world intended for cars and similar vehicles succeeding the Swiss Gotthard Road Tunnel.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland, where full service began on December 11, 2016. At 57.09 km (35.5 mi) in length, and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world's longest and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat low-level route through the Alps. Requiring 17 years to build, it contains 84 times the concrete in the Empire State Building and is approx 4 miles longer than the Channel Tunnel.
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| Overhead line installation car in the east tube of the Gotthard Base Tunnel . By Hannes Ortlieb (Diskussion) |
FUN TUNNEL FACTS
Beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, is the largest abandoned subway tunnel system in the US. Construction began in the 1910s but was halted by World War I and then canceled indefinitely during the Great Depression.
There is a massive system of tunnels under the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World called "Utilidors."
There are mysterious tunnels in South America, some thousands of feet long, thought to have been dug by extinct, giant sloths.
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