Huguenot Tunnel
 North entrance to the Huguenot Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°43′40″S 19°04′00″E / 33.727778°S 19.06667°E |
| Route |  N1 |
| Crosses | Du Toitskloof Mountains |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1984 |
| Constructed | Hochtief Concor |
| Opened | 18 March 1988 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 3900 m |
| No. of lanes | 2 |
| Operating speed | 90 km/h |
| Tunnel clearance | 5 m |
The Huguenot Tunnel is a toll tunnel near Cape Town, South Africa. It extends the N1 national road through the Du Toitskloof mountains that separate Paarl from Worcester, providing a route that is safer, faster (between 15 and 26 minutes) and shorter (by 11 km) than the old Du Toitskloof Pass travelling over the mountain.[1] On average 12,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day[2] with up to 22,500 vehicles using it daily on holidays.[3]
History[edit]
An idea for a tunnel through the Du Toitskloof Mountains was conceived in the 1930s but was put on hold due to the outbreak of World War II.[4] The idea developed into a pass over the mountains, the Du Toitskloof pass, using the labour of Italian prisoners of war between 1942 and 1945 and continued with ordinary labour until its completion in 1948.[4]
A 1983 economic impact assessment estimated that the construction of the tunnel would contribute R200 million to the economy of the Western Cape by 1988.[5]
Geological surveys and design started in 1973, and excavation followed in 1984, tunneling from both ends using drilling and blasting.
The tunnel was named after the French Huguenot[6] refugees that settled in the area in the late 1600s with one of the Huguenot refugees being Francois Du Toit, after whom Du Toitskloof was named.[1]
Construction[edit]
The tunnel was designed by South African VKE and Swiss Electrowatt, Zurich consulting engineers.
There were two phases to the tunneling, the first a pilot tunnel to examine the route's geographical obstacles.[4] The second phase bored a 5 m tunnel through granite rock as well as the construction of portals, drainage and ventilation tunnels.[4] The two drilling heads met with an error of only 3 mm over its entire 3.9 km length. The tunnel was finally opened on 18 March 1988[4] and cost a total of R202.6 million (equivalent to US$95 million)[7] to construct.[5]
The tunnel is maintained by Tolcon, a subsidiary of the Murray & Roberts construction company.[8] The tunnel was constructed by Hochtief and Concor.
Current plans[edit]
Currently the tunnel carries one lane of traffic in each direction. Plans are underway to open a second unfinished tunnel, the "northern bore", to carry eastbound traffic. This will allow for two lanes of traffic in each direction, with each tunnel carrying traffic in one direction only.[9][10]
In 2002, traffic peaks occurred during Easter (a record on 26 April 18 200 vehicles) and the December school holidays (12 000 vehicles per day).
Toll[edit]
The toll as proclaimed on 1 March 2019[11] was (in South African Rand):
- Light Vehicles: R47.50
- 2-axle heavy vehicles: R131
- 3 and 4-axle heavy vehicles: R206
- 5 and more-axle heavy vehicles: R333
The tunnel has 13 video cameras that feed into an automatic incident detection system, which can sound alarm devices for any of the following conditions:
- Stopped vehicles
- Fast and slow-moving traffic
- Traffic queue
- Wrong-way driving
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b "Du Toit's Kloof Pass and the Huguenot Tunnel, Route 62 | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ "Technical Committee D5 "Road Tunnel Operations"" (PDF). PIARC. 20 October 2017. p. 4. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Nel, Brandon (16 April 2022). "Nearly 40 000 cars passed through Huguenot tunnel this Easter weekend". Weekend Argus.
- ^ a b c d e "The Huguenot Tunnel turns 25 this week". The South African National Roads Agency. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ a b Clemence, Laurian. "Huguenot toll tunnel celebrates anniversary". www.engineeringnews.co.za. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ Ekron, Ziegfried. "Suprise plan for CT tunnel". News24. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ "Selected Historical Exchange Rates". South African Reserve Bank.
- ^ "Tolcon". Murray & Roberts. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ Powell, Anel (8 September 2008). "Second tunnel for W Cape road link". Cape Times. Independent Newspapers. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- ^ "Transport master plan may cost R750bn". Business Day. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ "Here are all the new toll fees - including e-tolls". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
