On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:58:13 -0700 (PDT)
Colin Williams wrote:
"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist until
the middle ages.

B2003

On Mar 16, 9:58*am, Colin Williams
wrote:
On Mar 15, 9:38*pm, allantracy wrote:



Yes, you can always rely on the French to be a bunch of poseurs.

Pity they aren’t so good at armies.

"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). *And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

(From 'The Second QI Book of General Ignorance', funnily enough).

France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17356912

So, it's finally really happening.

I thought they were starting on the 21st? I noted the date some time back as
it's my younger daughter's birthday.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17356912

So, it's finally really happening.

I thought they were starting on the 21st? I noted the date some time
back as it's my younger daughter's birthday.

Could be, I haven't come across the 21st date before bit nor have I
looked for it either.

Crossrail press release from Tuesday (13th March):

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/press-releases/giant-tunnel-boring-machines-ready-to-start-crossrail-dig

Excerpt:
---quote---
Today, the first of eight enormous machines, each 150 metres long and
weighing 1,000 tonnes, will begin their journey to the Royal Oak Portal
in west London from where, next week, they will start tunnelling 6.4 km
(four miles) east to Farringdon via Bond Street and Tottenham Court
Road. [...]
---/quote---

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17356912

So, it's finally really happening.

I thought they were starting on the 21st? I noted the date some time
back as it's my younger daughter's birthday.

Could be, I haven't come across the 21st date before bit nor have I
looked for it either.

Crossrail press release from Tuesday (13th March):


http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/pres...ring-machines-
ready-to-start-crossrail-dig

Excerpt:
---quote---
Today, the first of eight enormous machines, each 150 metres long and
weighing 1,000 tonnes, will begin their journey to the Royal Oak
Portal in west London from where, next week, they will start
tunnelling 6.4 km (four miles) east to Farringdon via Bond Street and
Tottenham Court Road. [...]
---/quote---

We shall see next week, then.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:37:37 -0500, wrote:
In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel claims to employ 2,600 people[1] while Crossrail
claims 14,000[2] so it is bigger by that measure. On the other hand the
Gotthard Base Tunnel is only part of a bigger project for which I can't
find total numbers.

[1] http://www.alptransit.ch/fileadmin/d...hbau_GBT_e.pdf
[2] http://www.crossrail.co.uk/railway/benefits

In message , at 07:37:37
on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is about
twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
07:37:37 on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is
about twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?

Yes, I saw that later. However, most of the difference is explained by
stations and works off the tunnel route, isn't it?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote in message
...
In article , (Mizter T)
wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

Rule 1. PR departments must exaggerate. They probably believe they are
tunneling from Maidenhead to Shenfield AND from Heathrow to Abbey Wood.
Then they'll double that figure as there are two tracks.

Also see the regular references to the 48 tph train service....

Paul S

In message , at 19:17:39
on Thu, 15 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

iirc the cost of the tunnel (and perhaps stations) under London is only
one third of the total project spend. So to some it extent it depends
how much of the project you include.

--
Roland Perry