The A3 tunnel has now opened as part of the new Hindhead bypass. SEE HERE FOR DETAILS.
Alex wanted to drive through it after seeing it on the news, so we took the Land Rover for a trip under The Devil’s Punchbowl.
The tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the UK (at present) to not pass under water. It’s a pretty neat bit of engineering, and has a few facts (interest levels dependant on if you like tunnels….)
- 963,959 cubic yards of earth was excavated during the tunnel’s construction
- The fuel consumption rate of the excavators was 528 gallons of low-sulphur diesel per day
- Digging the tunnel took 290,875 man-hours
- 378,599 cubic yards of concrete were made
- 1,399,034 man-hours were worked without an accident
- The tunnel contains 156 miles of cable
- The tunnel lights are twice as bright as the ones at the Old Trafford stadium
- The tunnel has 104 CCTV cameras
- The fire main tank can hold 8,358 gallons of water
- 4,322 people worked on the project
Sometimespace 