If a civil engineering project is to operate effectively and efficiently then it is essential that; (l) business objectives are recognised from the very earliest stages of design and that (2) IT operational requirements are built into the final project, not when it is operational, but at the earliest stage of the design process, i.e., within the conceptual design.

The importance of this type of approach to design is often not recognised by engineers, as is indicated by the opinion recently expressed by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers who suggested that designers must have a breadth of vision that includes politics, finance, operations, and a human dimension because these factors are often more important to design than has been recognised in the past. Dias takes a similar view, suggesting that in today's increasingly complex and interdependent world, the designer must take a wider, holistic view of design and in some cases embrace sociological and political formulations because these may be the dimensions that most influence design.

There have been many analyses of Eurotunnel from both financial and engineering perspectives. Similarly. the place of computers and IT in number-crunching, and information processing in civil engineering is well-understood. However, the place of IT in the operational phase of engineering projects, and the relationship between operational phase and design is often not considered. Consequently, this paper starts, not from conceptual design or design implementation but, from an operational perspective. It examines the important contribution that IT makes to Eurotunnel's operations to illustrate how IT contributes to both the engineering and business success of this massive design-and-build project.

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