The Huguenot Tunnel

The Du Toits Kloof pass was first conceived in the 1930s but was postponed due to WWII

the pass over the mountain was originally built by Italian prisoners of war between 1942 and 1945 however after the war, local labour completed the task.

Planning for the Huguenot Tunnel, a two-lane carriageway of 3913 metres began in the 1970s when it was noticed that traffic over the pass was becoming heavier. Construction was done in two phases and began in 1984. Two teams worked drilling and blasting. One team from one side and another team from the other side. Nearly 300 full-time workers were involved for over three years. The final cost of the project was close to 500 million. Half a million cubic metres of rock were removed from the inside of the mountain during excavation, the excavations from either side met in the middle with an error of just 3 mm.

Over the total length of 3.9 km, there are ventilation tunnels and a drainage system. Side tunnels are included for use in the case of an emergency evacuation.

The tunnel is lit throughout, has an air conditioning system and is monitored by cameras 24/7. These can set off an alarm in the rare case of an emergency.

The possibility of fires is always a concern and there are fire sensors. There have only been a couple of small fires since the tunnel was inaugurated.

8500 vehicles use the tunnel daily as the tunnel cuts 11 kilometres from the journey. Happily, accidents in the tunnel are very rare.

This picture was taken during construction

lat: -18.031138045920777; long: 30.433480760585326.

Read more about the New pass here

Read about the Old pass here.