home . Severn Bore . map . news . weather . tales . bridges . Sabrina

Home . Severn Bore . Map . News . Weather . Tales . Bridges . Sabrina . Links

THE SEVERN TUNNEL

The Severn Tunnel - Statistics

A double track, brick lined tunnel with long approach cuttings and carrying the trains under the estuary of the River Severn between Pilning and the Severn Tunnel Junction.

4 miles 574 metres

1 in 100 descent from the Bristol side.

1 in 90 rise to the Welsh side.

Begun in 1873 and completed in 1886

Act obtained to build the tunnel

Construction work began

Inundation by the Great Spring

Work taken over by Thomas Walker

Lambert, the diver, closed off the eastern heading

Great Spring sealed off

A great snowstorm

Heading joined under the Severn

The Great Spring broke in again

Flooding by an abnormal tidal wave

A through passageway completed from end to end

The last brick was keyed in

Sir Daniel Gooch travelled through the tunnel by train

A regular goods service commenced

Regular passenger train services commenced

Description:

Length:

Gradients:

Construction:

27th June 1872

18th March 1873

16th October 1879

18th December 1879

8th November 1880

4th January 1881

18th January 1881

26th September 1881

10th October 1883

17th October 188

17th October 1884

18th April 1885

5th September 1885

1st September 1886

1st December 1886

The Severn Tunnel - The Story

To the Victorians the London to South Wales was an important route, but one obstacle got in the way, the Severn Estuary. In the 1860s rail travellers on this route would have had to break their journey on reaching the Severn and take a ferry to rejoin a train on the other side. Unfortunately the Severn Estuary is known for its treacherous tides and bad weather, making an unpleasant interlude on an otherwise pleasant journey.

The Victorians produced some great engineers and they were prepared to accept the technical challenge of tunnelling under the Severn. Unaware of one hidden danger, the Great Spring!

The project began in 1873 and six years later they hit the Great Spring. Only 152 metres separated each tunnel running from the English and the Welsh shore. Within 24 hours the tunnel was flooded to river level, thankfully without any loss of life.

Huge pumps were brought in to try to pump out the water, but the spring was so big that they couldn't cope. A diver by the name of Lambert bravely entered the workings and managed, with considerable difficulty, to seal off the spring. But

it wasn't until 1881 that the Great Spring was sealed off behind a giant headwall.

Since that day a massive pump has continued to pump out 50 million litres of water per day and is now sold to a local water company. The Great Spring persisted throughout the remainder of the time spent in constructing the tunnel to give problems, As did the weather, even a large tidal wave gave rise to flooding. But on the 1st December 1886 a regular

passenger service was opened, cutting the journey from London to South Wales by one hour.

Work had begun two years earlier in 1875 on the construction of the Severn Railway Bridge which crossed the river a little upstream of Lydney and Sharpness. There was to be a lot of jealousy during the period of construction between both the tunnel and bridge companies until the bridge was finally opened in 1879.

On a foggy night on the 25th October 1960 two tanker barges owned by John Harker Ltd, the ARKENDALE H and WASTDALE H were swept by a large tide into the bridge. Two spans of the bridge dropped onto the tanker barges, setting both craft and the river ablaze. Five men lost their lives that evening, and is now always referred to as "The Severn Bridge Disaster". The bridge was never repaired and was finally dismantled in 1967.

Today the tunnel has modern diesel express trains roaring through, but the maintenance of the workings is continuous. Every Sunday the tunnel is closed to allow teams of engineers in to carry out vital work to ensure the safety of the

passengers that use it.

Contact Details

Google map of River Severn