Huguenot Tunnel
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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.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On average 12,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with up to 22,500 vehicles using it daily on holidays.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
History
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.<ref name="SANRAL01">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> 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.<ref name=SANRAL01/>
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.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" />
Construction
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.<ref name="SANRAL01" /> The second phase bored a 5 m tunnel through granite rock as well as the construction of portals, drainage and ventilation tunnels.<ref name="SANRAL01" /> The two tunnel headings met with an error of only 3 mm over its entire 3.9 km length. The tunnel was finally opened on 18 March 1988<ref name="SANRAL01" /> and cost a total of R202.6 million (equivalent to US$95 million)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to construct.<ref name=":0" />
The tunnel is maintained by Tolcon, a subsidiary of the Murray & Roberts construction company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The tunnel was constructed by Hochtief and Concor.
Current plans
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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
The toll as proclaimed on 1 March 2019<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was (in South African Rand):
- Light Vehicles: R50.50
- 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