Channel Tunnel Case Study

Index -

Page

Introduction ..............................................................................................4

-

The Iron Triangle .....................................................................................4

-

Budget ......................................................................................................5

-

Time .........................................................................................................7

-

Specification ............................................................................................8

-

What lessons have been learned from the Eurotunnel project? ...............9

-

References ................................................................................................13

Introduction The Eurotunnel, also known as the Channel Tunnel, was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II and the French President Franҫois Mitterrand on the 6th May 1994. It had been some eight years since the contract to construct the Channel Tunnel had been awarded and it would officially open, with the entire world watching on the 1st June 1994. The Channel Tunnel is the longest undersea tunnel in the world. It is also the largest privately funded megaproject with an investment of more than £10 billion by June 1994. The tunnel stretches some 50km in total linking the French terminal at Coquelles, Calais with the English terminal at Folkestone. Of the 50km length, 39km is via a tunnel bored under the English Channel. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: The Channel Tunnel Project (www.michellehenry.fr) The project as a whole had been a success in terms of delivering the intended product, but this turned out to be some 12 months later than planned, which in part was the consequence of many problems the project faced from the very early stages. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the ‘Eurotunnel: Eyes Wide Shut’ case study and consider the following as detailed within the brief: i)...