March 1876: Building a Channel Tunnel

Despite the almost ever-present tension, plans to connect the UK to mainland Europe have been around for centuries. In March 1876, The Engineer compiled an extensive roundup of the various means that could be employed to accomplish the task, including tunnels, tubes, and bridges. According to that same edition of the publication, proposals to create a link between Britain and France go as far back as 1802, just as the Napoleonic Wars were getting underway.

“Ever since the commencement of the present century there has been evinced a very firmly rooted conviction that there ought to be a line of communication established between England and the Continent of Europe other than that afforded by the passage of steamships between shore and shore,” our predecessors wrote in 1876.

“The first proposition to unite England and France was made in 1802, by Monsieur Mathieu, whose plans were laid before the First Napoleon, then First Consul, and were afterwards exhibited at the Luxembourg and public galleries in Paris. They have, however, long since been lost, and with them the proposed method of carrying out the work.”