Samphire Hoe




	Creation of Samphire Hoe
	After considerable discussion and 60 proposed sites for disposal of the Channel Tunnel spoil, it was decided that the option with the least adverse environmental impact was to reclaim land at the base of Shakespeare Cliff. There was already access to the site from the Dover to Folkestone railway line and through a tunnel in the cliff left from the 1970s tunnel attempt. The main advantages were no need for any transportation of the spoil to another site and the creation of a large platform to be used as a work site.

	As the Tunnel Boring Machines cut the chalk marl it was loaded onto rail tipper wagons, brought back along the tunnel and then moved onto the surface by conveyor belt. Large JCBs then moved the spoil into artificial lagoons constructed with sheet piled walls.

	February 1988 - the first of these new sea walls was completed. December 1990 - the last spoil lagoon was nearing completion. October 1993 - most of the contractors’ buildings had been removed, much of the platform had been landscaped and the first seeding had taken place. May 1994 - the Channel Tunnel was officially opened by HM The Queen and President Mitterand. July 17th 1997 - Samphire Hoe was opened to the public.

© 2008 Eurotunnel and White Cliffs Countryside Project (WCCP)