Language focus. VIII. Match the meanings of these terms with their definition: 1

VIII. Match the meanings of these terms with their definition:

1. trench	a. division of a road for a stream of traffic
2. soggy	b. thin semi-liquid cement, mud, manure, etc.
3. beneath	c. long narrow deep ditch
4. bedrock	d. machine digging and moving earth and soil
5. lane	e. below, under, underneath
6. excavator	f. to force liquid or gas into or out of something
7. pump	g. solid rock underlying alluvial deposits
8. slurry	h. sodden, saturated; too moist

IX. Complete the text using the words below:

a) mountain c) line e) starts g) train

b) ends d) length f) rail h) construction

Apennine Tunnel, AP uh nyn, is a ¹… tunnel on the Florence-Bologna railroad ²… in north-central Italy. The tunnel runs through the ³… range called the Apennines. Its 11.5-mile (18.5-kilometer) ⁴… makes it one of the longest train tunnels in the world. The Apennine Tunnel was built between 1920 and 1934. To speed ⁵…, the tunnel was bored from both ⁶…, and at the same time two shafts were dropped in to enable workers to dig out from the center.

X. Put correct forms into the gaps in the text:

Simplon Pass and Tunnel, SIMM plahn, are 1… gateways through the 2… Alps. Napoleon built a military road over the pass in the early 1800's. The road begins at Brig in the Rhone Valley. It reaches an 3… of 6,592 feet (2,009 meters), then descends toward the Lake District of 4… Italy. The Simplon Tunnel is one of the 5… railroad tunnels in the world. It is 12.3 miles (19.8 kilometers) long, and has a maximum elevation of 2,312 feet (705 meters). It consists of two 6 … tunnels. One tunnel was 7… in 1906, and the other was completed in 1874, but the work was stopped before it was finished. In 1902, a lawyer 8… William G. McAdoo raised money to complete the tunnel and to build a second one so 9… traffic could run under the river. McAdoo represented the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company. The uptown tunnels were opened to traffic in 1908. McAdoo also 10… money to build the downtown tunnels, which opened in 1909.

importance Switzerland to elevate North long parallels to complete name two ways to raise

X. Make a précis of the text Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig)

Test 3: The Thames Tunnel

Lead-in:

1. What type of a tunnel is the Thames tunnel?

2. How would you build such type of a tunnel?

3. What materials and techniques would you need to construct the tunnel?

The Thames Tunnelis a tunnel, 35 feet wide and 1,300 feet long, beneath the River Thames in London, between Rotherhithe and Wapping. Originally constructed for pedestrian use, it is currently used by trains of the London Underground's East London Line. It was built by Marc Isambard Brunei and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunei in the 19th century.

A previous attempt at construction by Richard Trevithick in 1808 failed due to the difficult conditions of the ground. Marc Brunei's approach at the start of the project in January 1825 was to begin by digging a large shaft on the south bank at Rotherhithe. He did this by first building a brick cylinder above ground and then gradually sinking it by removing the earth beneath it. Brunei and Thomas Cochrane devised the tunnelling shield to dig the tunnel. The Illustrated London News of 25 March 1843 described how it worked: "The mode in which this great excavation was accomplished was by means of a powerful apparatus termed a shield, consisting of twelve great frames, lying close to each other like as many volumes on the shelf of a book-case, and divided into three stages or stories, thus presenting 36 chambers of cells, each for one workman, and open to the rear, but closed in the front with moveable boards. The front was placed against the earth to be removed, and the workman, having removed one board, excavated the earth behind it to the depth directed, and placed the board against the new surface exposed. The board was then in advance of the cell, and was kept in its place by props; and having thus proceeded with all the boards, each cell was advanced by two screws, one at its head and the other at its foot, which, resting against the finished brickwork and turned, impelled it forward into the vacant space. The other set of divisions then advanced. As the miners worked at one end of the cell, so the bricklayers formed at the other the top, sides and bottom. "

The key innovation of the tunnelling shield was its use of compressed air to keep the working face from flooding. But the dangers of compression and decompression were not understood, and workers soon fell ill from the poor conditions, including Brunei himself; ten men died during the project.

Work was slow, progressing at only 8-12 feet a week. Isambard Kingdom Brunei took over as chief engineer, and when on 18 May 1827 the tunnel flooded, he used a diving bell to repair the hole at the bottom of the river. Following the repairs and the drainage of the tunnel, he held a banquet inside it.

The tunnel was flooded again the following year, 12 January 1828, and the project was abandoned for seven years, until Marc Brunei succeeded in raising sufficient money to continue work. Impeded by further floods and gas leaks (methane and hydrogen sulphide), it was not completed until 1842. It was finally opened to the public on 25 March 1843. The tunnel was not, however, a financial success and soon acquired an unpleasant reputation.

In 1865 the tunnel was bought by the East London Railway Company and was adapted for trains, which ran out of Liverpool Street station.

It was subsequently absorbed into the London Underground. In 1995 it became the focus of considerable controversy when the tunnel was closed for long-term maintenance, with the intention of sealing it against leaks by "shotcreting" it.

This led to a legal conflict with architectural interests wishing to preserve the tunnel's appearance and disputing the need for the treatment. Following an agreement to leave a short section at one end of the tunnel untreated, and more sympathetic treatment of the rest of the tunnel, the work went ahead and the route reopened - much later than originally anticipated - in 1998.

Although the tunnel itself cannot usually be visited (except by train), the engine house on the southern bank, which originally housed the pumps to drain the tunnel, has been restored and converted into a museum.

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