Le Tunnelier Virginie

Coquelles is the city of the Channel Tunnel. It is in this town to the west of Calais that the boarding terminal is located. It is therefore in Coquelles that a major symbol of the Chantier du Siècle is located. The T4 Virginie Tunnel Boring Machine is one of the machines used to dig one of the tunnels. It is not essential… because it is in the middle of a roundabout! But it is without a doubt one of the most original in France…!   

The construction of the Channel Tunnel lasted from 1987 to 1993. A tunnel boring machine is a massive cylindrical machine used to bore tunnels. There are 3 Channel Tunnels: 1 rail tunnel to England, 1 rail tunnel from England, 1 service road tunnel.   

The T4 Virginie tunnel boring machine bored the section of the service tunnel between Coquelles and the seaside at Sangatte. It took 8 months of work spanning 1988-1989 to dig the 3200 metres. The tunnel boring machine weighs 350 tonnes and measures over 10 metres. The diameter of the drilling wheel is around 6 metres. 

To highlight the symbols of the 1997th century construction site, the town of Coquelles placed this titanic souvenir at the entrance to the town in XNUMX.  

See also: There is another Tunnel Boring Machine element in Coquelles. It is at the entrance to Coquelles coming from Calais. It is a cutting wheel of the T5/T6 tunnel boring machine. Its diameter is larger than that of the T4 Virginie, the T5/T6 tunnel boring machine having dug the railway tunnels on the French side.