Files just released by the National Archives show Britons might now be driving from the UK to France across a great suspension bridge if plans put forward in the early 1980s had succeeded.

　　Picture: Artist's impression of the proposed suspension bridge across the English Channel

　　Suspension bridge

　　The proposed bridge, 21 miles long and 220ft high, would have stretched from Dover to Cap Gris Nez in Northern France. It would have cost some ?3billion and taken about 10 years to build.

　　Motorists would have been able to drive to France and back on a six-lane motorway at a cost – in the late eighties – of ?5.60. Lorry drivers would have paid ?8.00.

　　Based on Humber Bridge

　　The project - which would have created the world's longest suspension bridge – was based on a similar design to the 1.4 mile Humber Bridge which links East Yorkshire to North Lincolnshire.

　　Papers from The National Archives at Kew reveal all the plans and artist's impressions for this ambitious project.

　　Thatcher's backing

　　Plans to build the bridge apparently had the backing of the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and Norman Fowler, a former Minister of Transport.

　　Designer Sir Ralph Freeman, and his company Linkeurope Ltd, assured ministers that the project would be safer, more lucrative and have far greater popular appeal than rival plans for a rail tunnel. It was also argued that the bridge would have been strong enough to withstand the impact of a ferry crashing into one of the supporting piers.

　　Thousands of workers

　　The bridge, which would have rested on 15 piers, each about 1.8 miles apart, would have required thousands of workers, 450,000 tons of steel and 250,000 cubic metres of concrete to complete.

　　Picture: Travellers to Europe now go by the Eurostar train or by car via Eurotunnel

　　Explaining to civil servants

　　Sir Ralph and his fellow-directors had several meetings with the senior civil servants at the Transport Department between 1979 and 1981 to explain what was involved.

　　But the ambitious plans came to nothing; the Department concluded in 1981 that, while the bridge was likely to be a financial success, the concerns about safety, shipping hazards, environmental problems and long-term maintenance, were too great to overcome.

　　Channel Tunnel

　　A few years later, the French and British governments agreed to build a tunnel under the Channel which was completed and opened in 1994. (Source: British Consulate-General in Chongqing)