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This is the boiler room. Should any power be lost to the electrically controlled main fans, there is a diesel generator back up system.
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This is called Central Avenue and is under the roadway and was where trams were originally meant to travel along. This never materialised and now is used to carry the orange BT cables under river and to the left in those casings are the Liverpool to Birkenhead power supply. The trickle of water running down the middle channel is land water. The tunnel is dry lined and is between 120ft and 140 ft below the river bed (depending on what part of the tunnel you're in) so it can never let in or flood directly from the River itself.
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This is one of the huge 80 RPM fans that takes out the foul air from the tunnel and is original.
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It is powered by these motors which are not original.
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The shaft from where some of the fresh air is taken
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This shaft is where the air is force up onto the roadway via holes just above the kerbside. The shaft is curved and angled in such a way as to be controlled otherwise the cars above would be knocked sideways. It was might cold and draughty down there and you can see why it has to be controlled. There are lots of back up controls and automatic kick in devices should one or more fail. Everything seems to have been looked into and catered for.
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One of the two fresh air fans in this particular shaft. Should one fail, it is automatically shoved out of the way to the far corner and is replaced by another as it has to sit directly with the shaft to be of use.
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Technically the oldest part of the tunnel. Originally two shafts were dug. One at Georges Dock and the other in Birkenhead. This piece of the tunnel was bore to get to where the actual roadway tunnel now is. A sort of pilot tunnel to the larger one.
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Refuge point G. This is where drivers are instructed to come directly from the tunnel should there be a major incident. It is linked via a screen to the authorities and is two-way. A leaky feed into the tunnel means that the radio station on your car or even if you are listening to a cd, can be intercepted and you are instructed what to do. There is also a tannoy system that would be operating too. In the Mont Blanc disaster, some things were not in place and their refuge rooms, unlike these were not linked to each other so once in - you were trapped. These ones have a heating system, seating and water supply and are based within Central Avenue that was mentioned earlier.
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One of the staircases used to reach the depths.
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We were given a little commemorative medal engraved with the tunnel entrance and 1934. It will take pride of place with the ones for my 10km road races through this and Kingsway.
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And what better way to finsih off the evening but with a pint or three in the Pig & Whistle with Mart and Johnny Blue.
These and the rest, mostly the same as Georgiet's will be going onto my site under the inside old buildings thread.
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