TransManche Link (Cross Channel Link) or TML was a British-French construction

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

responsible for building the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

under the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

between Cheriton in England, and

Coquelles Coquelles (; vls, Kalkwelle, lang) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department near Calais in northern France. The town comprises a shopping centre, hotels and farm in Vieille Coquelles (old Coquelles), part of the L'Européenne autoroute ( ...

in France.

History

In April 1985 the British and French governments invited proposals for the construction of a link between the two countries to be privately funded. In January 1986 the two governments selected the Channel Tunnel Group/France Manche proposal for the construction of two undersea tunnels. At

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

on 12 February 1986 the governments signed a treaty approving construction of the Channel Tunnel. In March the concession for the operation of the tunnel was given to Channel Tunnel Group (CTG) and France Manche (FM). Following the award of this concession CTG was subsumed by the newly formed Eurotunnel plc and FM was similarly replaced with Eurotunnel SA, together these formed the Eurotunnel Group. In July 1985 the British contractors formed Translink Contractors and the French consortium formed Transmanche Construction. On 18 October 1985 these two groups were merged to create TransManche Link (TML). TML was thus contracted to build the tunnel for its customer, Eurotunnel, who would own and operate it. TML senior management were employees of the partner companies seconded to the new organisation. In October 1986 Eurotunnel was partially floated and the contractors and banks no longer exercised control over the company. Beginning in 1987 relations between TML and Eurotunnel deteriorated, with significant and increasingly public rows erupting over cost and programme management. With the completion of the Channel Tunnel TML ceased to exist.

Organisation

The participants were as follows:Channel Tunnel on Structurae database
/ref> Channel Tunnel Group (later Translink Contractors) *

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* Tarmac Construction *

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* Wimpey International Construction *

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France Manche (later Transmanche Construction) *

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*Dumez *Société Auxiliaire d’Entreprise *Société Générale d’Entreprises *

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transmanche Link Channel Tunnel Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom Tunnelling organizations Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1985 British companies established in 1985 Construction and civil engineering companies disestablished in the 20th century