St Helena Tunnel
 St Helena Tunnel on opening day | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Ewingsdale, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 28°39′10″S 153°32′54″E / 28.6527°S 153.5482°E |
| Status | Open |
| Route | Pacific Highway |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 27 September 2012 |
| Constructed | Lendlease |
| Opened | 18 December 2015 |
| Owner | Transport for NSW |
| Traffic | Automotive (Cyclists and Pedestrians in side lane) |
| Character | Dual carriageway grade-separated national highway |
| Technical | |
| Length | 434 metres (1,424 ft) |
| No. of lanes | Built for 3 lanes each direction, opened as 2 northbound & 3 southbound lanes |
| Operating speed | 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) |
| Tunnel clearance | 5.3 metres (17 ft) |
| Width | 13.3 metres (44 ft) |
| Grade | 2.2% |
The St Helena Tunnel is a twin-tube road tunnel that forms part of the Pacific Highway in the Byron Bay hinterland in New South Wales, Australia. The 434-metre-long (1,424 ft) tunnel under St Helena Hill in Ewingsdale was built as part of the 17-kilometre (11 mi) Tintenbar to Ewingsdale upgrade, which involved a new alignment of the highway.
Features
The tunnel was built to avoid the steep grades of St Helena Hill on the previous alignment of the highway, and the associated heavy truck noise and pollution. At its deepest point the tunnel is 45 metres (148 ft) below the 131-metre-high (430 ft) ridge line. There are two tunnels, with the northbound tunnel accommodating two traffic lanes and the southbound three traffic lanes, due to the gradient of the highway at this point. There is also a bicycle/pedestrian lane in each tunnel.[1]
The cost of the Tintenbar–Ewingsdale upgrade project was $862 million, jointly funded by the Federal and New South Wales governments. It opened on 18 December 2015.[2]
The St Helena Road passes over the top of the tunnel and provides local access to the Bangalow Road (B62) that is a link between Bangalow and Byron Bay.[3]
Milestones
- January 2010 – Planning approval and construction funding for the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale project including the St Helena Tunnel
- May 2010 – Roads & Maritime Services called for expressions of interest for the construction of the upgrade
- December 2010 – three companies were invited to submit detailed tenders
- August 2011 – the contract was awarded to Lendlease[4][5]
- 27 September 2012 – the shovel ceremony was held to commemorate the start of construction
- 28 May 2013 – Blasting began on the twin tunnels
- 24 January 2014 – Excavator broke through on the northbound tunnel[6]
- 26 February 2014 – Excavator broke through on the southbound tunnel
- December 2015 – Commissioning of tunnels began
- 18 December 2015 – The highway upgrade, including the twin tunnels, opened to traffic
Gallery
Looking south from St Helena Hill, the construction compound, site office and machine maintenance area at the southern portal of the tunnel, 2014
Close up southbound tunnel southern portal under construction, 2015
Interior of the tunnel, 2015
Tunnel at night hours from opening, 2015
References
- ^ "Environmental Assessment Submissions Report" (PDF). Roads & Traffic Authority. Government of New South Wales. May 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ Traffic now using Tintenbar - Ewingsdale Pacific Highway upgrade ABC News 18 December 2015
- ^ 3776 Pacific Highway, Tyagarah NSW 2481, Australia to Saint Helen Tunnel, Ewingsdale NSW 2481, Australia (Map). Google Maps. 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- ^ "Pacific Highway Tintenbar to Ewingsdale Upgrade". Roads & Maritime Services. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Another stage of Pacific Hwy duplication gets all clear". Australasian Transport News. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
- ^ Stevens, Rodney (24 January 2014). "Tunnel breakthrough a major milestone for highway upgrade". The Northern Star. Retrieved 3 February 2014.