Saltash Tunnel

Last updated

Saltash Tunnel
Saltash Tunnel East portal.jpg
The Eastern portal of the Saltash Tunnel.
Overview
LocationWest of the Tamar Bridge, Saltash, Cornwall, UK
StatusActive
Operation
Opened1988
Owner National Highways
Technical
Line length410m
Operating speed30mph

The Saltash Tunnel is a road tunnel on the A38 at Saltash in Cornwall, UK and was opened in 1988.

Contents

The central lane operates as a reversible lane to cope with holiday and rush hour traffic and the speed limit is 30 mph. [1] The tunnel is used by more than 38,000 motorists per day and is 410 m long. [2] It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, built by Balfour Beatty, and has a design life of at least 100 years. [3]

Construction

The Western portal Saltash Tunnel West portal.jpg
The Western portal

During construction of the tunnel a problem was encountered with flooding due to the saturation of the surrounding rocks. The resultant flow of water was channelled through the tunnel, hidden by a decorative cladding. Within a few months this cladding had begun to crack and water entered the part of the tunnel reserved for traffic; although no structural problems were found the water staining on the cladding gave the impression of a poorly built tunnel. [4] This was commented upon in Parliament by the local MP, Colin Breed, and a £7.4 million renovation project was contracted to Skanska to provide for a new tunnel lining and improvements to the electrical system. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamar Bridge</span> Suspension bridge in southwest England

The Tamar Bridge is a suspension bridge over the River Tamar between Saltash, Cornwall and Plymouth, Devon in southwest England. It is 335 metres (1,099 ft) long, running adjacent the Royal Albert Bridge, and part of the A38, a main road between the two counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensway tunnel</span> Road tunnel running under the River Mersey connecting Liverpool and Wirral

The Queensway tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Mersey, in the north west of England, between Liverpool and Birkenhead. Locally, it is often referred to as the "Birkenhead tunnel" or "old tunnel", to distinguish it from the newer Kingsway tunnel (1971), which serves Wallasey and the M53 motorway traffic. At 3.24 kilometres (2.01 mi) in length, it is the longest road tunnel in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M67 motorway</span> Motorway in Greater Manchester, England

The M67 is a 5-mile (8.0 km) urban motorway in Greater Manchester, England, which heads east from the M60 motorway passing through Denton and Hyde before ending near Mottram. The road was originally conceived as the first section of a trans-Pennine motorway between Manchester and Sheffield that would connect the A57(M) motorway with the M1 motorway; however, the motorway became the only part to be built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackwall Tunnel</span> Pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in London

The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south of the East India Dock Road (A13) in Blackwall; the southern entrances are just south of The O2 on the Greenwich Peninsula. The road is managed by Transport for London (TfL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Albert Bridge</span> Railway bridge spanning the River Tamar in southwest England

The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Its unique design consists of two 455-foot (138.7 m) lenticular iron trusses 100 feet (30.5 m) above the water, with conventional plate-girder approach spans. This gives it a total length of 2,187.5 feet (666.8 m). It carries the Cornish Main Line railway in and out of Cornwall. It is adjacent to the Tamar Bridge which opened in 1962 to carry the A38 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A38 road</span> Trunk road in England

The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltash</span> Town in Cornwall, England

Saltash is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks include the Tamar Bridge which connects Plymouth to Cornwall by road, and the Royal Albert Bridge. The area of Latchbrook is part of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsway telephone exchange</span> Cold War telephone exchange under London

Kingsway telephone exchange was a Cold War-era hardened telephone exchange underneath High Holborn in London. Initially built as a deep-level air-raid shelter in the early 1940s, it was instead used as a government communications centre. In 1949 the General Post Office (GPO) took over the building, and in 1956 it became the UK termination point for TAT-1, the first transatlantic telephone cable. Closure of the facility began in the 1980s. It was built together with underground exchanges in Birmingham and Manchester, and was originally covered by a D notice

HMS <i>Scylla</i> (F71) Royal Navy frigate sunk as artificial reef off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall

HMS Scylla (F71) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard, the last RN frigate to be built there as of 2016. Scylla was commissioned in 1970, taken out of service in 1993 in accordance with Options for Change, and sunk as an artificial reef in 2004 off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge</span> Floating bridge in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges that carries the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 across Lake Washington from Seattle to Mercer Island. Westbound traffic is carried by the adjacent Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit–Windsor tunnel</span> International tunnel between United States and Canada

The Detroit–Windsor tunnel, also known as the Detroit–Canada tunnel, is an international highway tunnel connecting the cities of Detroit, Michigan, United States and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is the second-busiest crossing between the United States and Canada, the first being the Ambassador Bridge, which also connects the two cities, which are situated on the Detroit River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel</span> Bridge-tunnel connecting Virginia cities Norfolk and Hampton

The Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel (HRBT) is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km)-long Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 60. It is a four-lane facility comprising bridges, trestles, man-made islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Water Ring Main</span> London water supply infrastructure

The Thames Water Ring Main is a system of approximately 80 km (50 mi) of concrete tunnels which transfer drinking water from water treatment works in the Thames and River Lea catchments for distribution within central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squirrel Hill Tunnel</span>

The Squirrel Hill Tunnel is a tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves as an eastern gateway to the city for I-376 and was completed in 1953 after 8 years of construction and at a cost of US$18 million. At the time of opening it was the single largest investment by the State of Pennsylvania Transportation Department (PennDOT). It is 4,225 feet (1,288 m) long and is a twin-bore tunnel with 8 cross passages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridges in Kyiv</span>

Kyiv, historically situated on the right bank of the Dnieper River, now covers both banks of the river whose width, as it flows through the city, reaches several hundred metres. Additionally, several tributaries join the Dnieper inside or just north or south of the historic city. Currently there are eight bridges spanning across the river and a few dozen bridges across the canals and Dnieper tributaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hallandsås Tunnel</span> Railway Tunnel

The Hallandsås Tunnel, also known as the Hallandsås Ridge Tunnel or Scanlink, is a railway tunnel in Sweden. It connects the northern and the southern sides of the Hallandsås geological formation. The length is 8.7 km (5.4 mi). It's utilised by the West Coast Line, on the section between Ängelholm and Halmstad in southwestern Sweden. It has improved the connection between the cities of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark. In the longer term it will be a key component in the proposed Oslo to Hamburg high speed rail link via Gothenburg, Malmö and Copenhagen.

The Posey and Webster Street Tubes are two parallel underwater tunnels connecting the cities of Oakland and Alameda, California, running beneath the Oakland Estuary. Both are immersed tubes, constructed by sinking precast concrete segments to a trench in the Estuary floor, then sealing them together to create a tunnel. The Posey Tube, completed in 1928, currently carries one-way (Oakland-bound) traffic under the Estuary, while the Webster Street Tube, completed in 1963, carries traffic from Oakland to Alameda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Tunnel</span> Twin tunnels in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Liberty Tunnels are a pair of tunnels located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States that allow motorists to travel between the South Hills of Pittsburgh and the city, beneath Mt. Washington. The tunnels were vital in the expansion of the South Hills suburbs by providing a direct route to the city, eliminating the time-consuming task of navigating around or over Mt. Washington and its inclines. Opening in 1924, the Liberty Tunnels are the longest automobile tunnel in the City of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notter, Cornwall</span>

Notter and Notter Bridge are adjoining hamlets in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. They are situated in the civil parish of St Stephens-by-Saltash approximately three miles (5 km) northwest of Saltash. The A38 trunk road crosses the River Lynher at Notter Bridge.

Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC), officially known as Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo, LLC, is a limited liability company whose sole purpose is to finance, deliver, operate and maintain the Elizabeth River Tunnels Project in the South Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The project comprised the development, design, construction, finance and operation of a new two-lane tunnel adjacent to the existing Midtown Tunnel under the Elizabeth River, maintenance and safety improvements to the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels, extending the Martin Luther King Freeway from London Boulevard to Interstate 264, and interchange modifications at Brambleton Avenue and Hampton Boulevard.

References

Coordinates: 50°24′42″N4°12′54″W / 50.41161°N 4.21496°W / 50.41161; -4.21496