Huguenot Tunnel
Toll tunnel in South Africa
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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, which 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]
| Huguenot Tunnel | |
|---|---|
North entrance to the Huguenot Tunnel | |
 Interactive map of Huguenot Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
| Coordinates | 33.727778°S 19.06667°E |
| Route |  N1 |
| Crosses | Du Toitskloof Mountains |
| Operation | |
| Work began | 1984 |
| Constructed | Hochtief Concor |
| Opened | 18 March 1988 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 3,900 m (12,800 ft) |
| No. of lanes | 2 |
Operating speed | 90 km/h |
Tunnel clearance | 5 m (16 ft) |
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.[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
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 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[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
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
The toll as proclaimed on 1 March 2025[11] was (in South African Rand):
- Light Vehicles: R53
- 2-axle heavy vehicles: R146
- 3 and 4-axle heavy vehicles: R229
- 5 and more-axle heavy vehicles: R371
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