Skip to main content

Stonehenge tunnel controversy exacerbated by recent incident

The controversy surrounding the driving of a new road tunnel close to the UK’s Stonehenge monument has deepened following a recent incident. A 3m diameter hole was allegedly drilled through an important archeological find, a platform constructed of flint and animal bone, located close to the site Stonehenge. The platform is thought to have been erected some 6,000 years ago, making it older than Stonehenge itself, and preserves hoof prints made by aurochs, giant wild cattle that are now long extinct.
December 7, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

The controversy surrounding the driving of a new road tunnel close to the UK’s Stonehenge monument has deepened following a recent incident. A 3m diameter hole was allegedly drilled through an important archeological find, a platform constructed of flint and animal bone, located close to the site Stonehenge. The platform is thought to have been erected some 6,000 years ago, making it older than Stonehenge itself, and preserves hoof prints made by aurochs, giant wild cattle that are now long extinct.

The construction of the tunnel is a necessary project as the busy A303 route features just a single lane in either direction as it passes Stonehenge and the road is no longer fit for purpose. Traffic congestion are delays are frequent along this particular stretch of the A303 while there are serious concerns over safety. One of the biggest controversies surrounding the project however is that many believe the preferred route for the tunnel to be too short, risking damage to the historical site. There are also concerns that driving the new tunnel will affect the high water table in the area, potentially damaging other features of archeological importance.

Stonehenge is a 1384 Unesco world heritage site due to its historic importance.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Delay for tender for link roads to Istanbul’s new Bosporus bridge
    June 25, 2015
    The tender process for the road connections to the third bridge over the Bosporus in Turkey has been delayed once more. This is the third time the tender for the connecting roads for Istanbul's third bridge over the Bosporus has been postponed. The tender for the North Marmara Motorway was originally set for 6th March 2015 but was then pushed back to the 6th May. It was then announced that the tender would be run in two stages, with the Kinali-Odayeri motorway tender on 7th July and the Kurtkoy-Akyazi motor
  • Brisbane’s new airport link is an engineering success
    April 12, 2013
    Financial troubles for Brisbane's new Airport Link overshadow its construction success – Adrian Greeman writes. Political argument and legal dispute is likely to rage for some time yet over the bankruptcy of Australian road operator BrisConnect, which went into receivership this February with A$3 billion in debt. Toll paying users for its new Airport Link have been less than half the predicted numbers since it opened in July last summer. But if its nancial engineering is being questioned, the same is not t
  • Drilling's novel solutions
    July 23, 2012
    In the drilling and hydraulic attachment sectors too, firms are offering novel solutions for the customer. Atlas Copco continues to develop its comprehensive range of drilling solutions in the shape of its latest down-the-hole (DTH) and SmartRig variants, as well as adding new compact rigs and new consumables to the line-up. The firm's latest Roc L630 DTH rig benefits from a new feed as well as improved cooling. The new aluminium feed is said to improve hole straightness and hole quality. It also allows the
  • Safer cone collection with X-Cone among the latest safety innovations
    August 30, 2017
    X-Cone is a new traffic cone management system offering a higher level of safety for workers and maximum efficiency for contractors. Austrian-made X-Cone is a truck-mounted system that can manage the setting out and collection of cones from the flatbed of any 3.5tonne vehicle. It does not matter if the cones are straight or laying on the road, the X-cone can still manage the work quickly, safely and reliably, according to the manufacturer. For setting out standard cones, the driver can decide the distance b