Tunnelers Link Britain, France Under Channel

British and French tunnelers reached each other beneath the waters of the English Channel on Tuesday for a linkup that ended Britain’s geographical isolation from Europe.

An official of Eurotunnel, the consortium building the Gargantuan rail project from the British end, said the two work teams connected at 7:30 p.m. in the drilling of a service tunnel.

“Britain will no longer be an island,” French Radio said.

Earlier, a Eurotunnel spokeswoman said the British tunnelers had stopped their machine and inserted a 2.3-inch-wide steel pipe into the chalky soil a distance of 110 yards.

The probe enabled engineers to confirm that the tunnel was heading in the right direction for the actual breakthrough.

The significance of the event was not lost on British workers, who call themselves “the Tunnel Tigers.” In reports they said the hole would be large enough for them to get a “whiff of garlic” from the French side.

A formal linkup ceremony will take place in January, when British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterrand will meet at the midway point to shake hands and celebrate Britain’s first physical link with the Continent.

Rail traffic is scheduled to start rolling through the 31-mile link of two rail and one service tunnels in mid-1993. The $15-billion project began in January, 1986.