PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR TUNNEL

Gosport is the largest town in the UK without a railway station. To overcome congestion on the routes to it, Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council propose a rapid transit system between Portsmouth, Gosport, and Fareham. This article describes the scheme and includes a route map. A key part of the scheme will be a tunnel under Portsmouth Harbour. The three options for the tunnel are: (1) a deep bored tunnel through ground with poor geology; (2) a cut-and-cover tunnel, whose construction within a cofferdam, to be removed later, would require partial closure of the shipping channel for at least one year; and (3) an immersed tube tunnel, whose sections would be constructed in a dock, floated to the site, then sunk in a dredged trench. The third option was chosen because both the others were impracticable; it has the advantages of only requiring harbour closure for 24h per section, and being about 25% cheaper than a comparable bored tunnel. The tunnel will be 1km long, but the immersed tube part will be about 670m long, with three sections of length 107m and three of length 116m. The likely minimum cross-section of the tunnel elements is 11.5m by 7.5m high, allowing space for one tube in each direction to carry the light-rail vehicles. The tunnel will take about three years to build.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/38265072
• Corporate Authors:

  Ian Allan Publishing, Limited

  Riverdene Business Park, Riverdene Industrial Estate
  Molesey Road
  Walton-on-Tham, Surrey  United Kingdom  KT12 4RG

  Light Rail Transit Association

  23 Shrublands Close
  Chigwell, Essex  United Kingdom  IG7 5EA
• Authors:
  • MEEUWISSEN, P
• Publication Date: 1999-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 170-1
• Serial:
  • Tramways & Urban Transit
  • Volume: 62
  • Issue Number: 737
  • Publisher: Light Rail Transit Association
  • ISSN: 1460-8324

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; Costs; Design; Itinerary; Local government agencies; Maps; Public transit; Rapid transit; Tunnels; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Selection
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 3655: Construction; 224: Cost; 9011: Design (overall design); 699: Itinerary; 192: Local authority; 4074: Map; 744: Public transport; 1181: Rapid transit system; 9072: Selection; 3374: Tunnel; 8119: United Kingdom; 313: Urban area
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Finance; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00767180
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Aug 6 1999 12:00AM