Chunnel Tunnel Boring Machines: Fate of the 11 TBMs

Eleven Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) excavated the Channel Tunnel. Their fates varied:

UK Side (5 TBMs)

• TBM 1 (Eurotunnel): Dismantled and removed after completing first UK drive
• TBM 2 (Sandringham): Partially dismantled, shipped to France for seabed tunnel—project canceled 1994. Remains submerged under Channel
• TBM 3 (Archimedes): Completed UK drive + French service tunnel. Dismantled, removed
• TBM 4 (Victoria/La Rance): French drive. Dismantled, scrapped
• TBM 5 (Pascal): Completed UK→France. Dismantled, scrapped

French Side (6 TBMs)

• TBM 6 (Pelorus): Rail tunnels France→UK. Dismantled, likely scrapped
• TBM 7 (Daisy): French service tunnel. Dismantled
• TBM 8 (Phyllis): French rail tunnels. Dismantled, likely scrapped
• TBM 9 (Helen): French service tunnels. Dismantled, scrapped
• TBM 10 (Penelope): French service tunnels. Dismantled, likely scrapped
• TBM 11 (Esther): French service tunnels. Dismantled, possibly scrapped

Summary

Most TBMs were dismantled and scrapped post-construction. Only Sandringham (TBM 2) remains partially submerged beneath the English Channel—a unique underground monument to the project.