Huguenot Tunnel

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. 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. 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 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. to construct. 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. 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 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 == Sources ==