Key UK tunnel opens

The UK's new Hindhead Tunnel is now open to traffic. The ?420 million (£371 million) tunnel runs under the Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey and will reduce congestion, while boosting safety on the busy A3 route.
February 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The UK's new Hindhead Tunnel is now open to traffic. The €420 million (£371 million) tunnel runs under the Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey and will reduce congestion, while boosting safety on the busy A3 route. The 1.8km tunnel has taken four-and-a-half years to construct and lies on the London-to-Portsmouth A3 road. The twin-bore tunnel is one of the longest in England and will be used by 30,000 vehicles/day. The new tunnel will allow the existing A3, between the National Trust cafe and Boundless Road, to be closed to through-traffic. The tunnel forms part of a 6.4km bypass of the Surrey village of Hindhead. The project will remove a major source of congestion thus benefiting motorists and the local community whilst also cutting pollution to preserve the Area of National Beauty that is the Devil's Punch Bowl. The scheme commenced in 2007 with the tunnel being dug the following year and has won awards for its innovations and safety record. The tunnel itself contains state-of-the-art safety features, including the UK's first radar-based incident detection system and 100% CCTV coverage. Another innovative addition was the inclusion of 2696 Astucia Hardwired Bi-Directional Studs which will stream light and guide motorists safely through the tunnel. In October 2010, 868 2696 Astucia Hardwired Bi-Directional studs were installed split equally between the two tunnel bores. The studs are bi-directional meaning they emit a full 180 °of illumination when switched from uni-directional to bi-directional delineation when in the contra flow mode.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Balfour Beatty begins construction of €23.05mn Merseyside motorway link
    January 31, 2014
    Balfour Beatty this week began construction on a €23.05 million (£19 million) scheme to bypass two congested villages and link communities in Sefton along the west coast of Merseyside in Northwest England directly to the M57 and M58 motorways. The road will be 4.5km long and connect the A565 Southport Road to the motorway junction at Switch Island, avoiding the villages of Thornton and Netherton. The newly designated A5758 Broom’s Cross Road will relieve long-standing traffic issues in the area and provid
    Read More
  • Hoover Dam’s innovative new bridge bypass
    April 12, 2013
    Soaring over 271m above the Colorado River, the Hoover Dam Bypass overlooks one of America’s greatest icons and assets. The October 2010 opening of the bypass improves the security of the historic Hoover Dam by removing through traffic from US Route 93. This has reduced its vulnerability to a terrorist attack against an international landmark and guarded the most sustainable source of electricity and the scarce water supply for the entire southwestern United States. By diverting traffic from the hairpin tur
    Read More
  • Clever electric solution for embankment stabilisation
    August 28, 2013
    A highly innovative solution for road embankment stabilisation has helped save costs by up to 30% over conventional techniques. Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has used electrical current to stabilise embankments on a busy UK dual carriageway, avoiding disruption to motorists, cutting carbon by 40% and costs by 30%, and producing zero waste When slope failure was detected on embankments carrying the popular A21 dual carriageway, Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald pioneered a novel technique to tackle the prob
    Read More
  • Hanwha on the Pedemontana Veneta
    November 1, 2022
    The need for a motorway to link the cities of Vicenza and Treviso in northern Italy emerged in the 1970s as the Venetian countryside became increasingly urbanised. Meanwhile, the enlargement of the European Union to the east in the 1990s also brought more traffic across the region
    Read More

Highlighted Content