Channel Tunnel Rail Link section 1: diversion of utilities

A total of 423 utility diversions were required for the first 74 km section of the £5·2 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The project was unprecedented in that the developer Union Railways had the power to design and build the diversions directly in order to avoid delays—though the utilities proved they could actually do the work quicker. This paper reports on the complex access and financial issues relating to diversions and highlights solutions adopted for maintaining overhead power cables and pumping sewage over a tunnel.