Le Tunnelier Virginie
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Le Tunnelier Virginie
D243 E - 62231 COQUELLES
Coquelles is the town of the Channel Tunnel. The embarkation terminal is located in this town west of Calais. Therefore, Coquelles is home to a major symbol of the "Project of the Century." The T4 Virginie tunnel boring machine is one of the machines used to excavate one of the tunnels. It's not exactly unmissable… because it's in the center of a roundabout! But it's undoubtedly one of the most unusual 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 three Channel Tunnels: one rail tunnel to England, one rail tunnel from England, and one road service tunnel. The T4 Virginie tunnel boring machine bored the section of the service tunnel between Coquelles and the coast at Sangatte. It took eight months of work, spanning 1988 and 1989, to excavate the 3200 meters. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) weighs 350 tons and is over 10 meters long. The diameter of the cutterhead is approximately 6 meters. To highlight the symbols of this 20th-century construction project, the town of Coquelles placed this colossal memorial at its entrance in 1997. Also worth seeing: There is another TBM component in Coquelles. It is located at the entrance to Coquelles when coming from Calais. This is a cutterhead from the T5/T6 TBM. Its diameter is larger than that of the T4 Virginie, as the T5/T6 TBM excavated the railway tunnels on the French side.
