Huguenot Tunnel
The Huguenot Tunnel is a toll tunnel near Cape Town, South Africa. It extends the N1 national road through the Du Toitskloof mountains that 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.
![]() North entrance to the Huguenot Tunnel | |
Overview | |
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Official name | Abdullah M Omar Tunnel |
Coordinates | 33.727778°S 19.06667°E |
Route | ![]() |
Crosses | Du Toitskloof Mountains |
Operation | |
Work begun | 1984 |
Constructed | Hochtief Construction AG Concor Holdings. |
Opened | 18 March 1988 |
Technical | |
Length | 3900 m |
No. of lanes | 2 |
Operating speed | 90 km/h |
Tunnel clearance | 5 m |
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 Two.[1] 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.[1] Geological surveys and design started in 1973, and excavation followed in 1984, tunneling from both ends using drilling and blasting.
Construction
There were two phases to the tunneling, the first a pilot tunnel to examine the routes geographical obstacles.[1] The second phase bored a 5 m tunnel through granite rock as well as the construction of portals, drainage and ventilation tunnels.[1] The two drilling heads met with an error of only 3 mm over its entire 3.9 km length. The tunnel was finally opened on 18 March 1988.[1]
The tunnel is maintained by Tolcon, a subsidiary of the Murray & Roberts construction company.[2] The tunnel was constructed by Hochtief Construction AG and Concor Holdings.
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.[3][4]
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 2019[5] was (in South African Rand):
- Light Vehicles: R39,50
- 2-axle heavy vehicles: R110,00
- 3 and 4-axle heavy vehicles: R172,00
- 5 and more-axle heavy vehicles: R278,00
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 queues
- Wrong-way driving
Sources
- "The Huguenot Tunnel turns 25 this week". The South African National Roads Agency. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- "Tolcon". Murray & Roberts. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- Powell, Anel (8 September 2008). "Second tunnel for W Cape road link". Cape Times. Independent Newspapers. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- "Transport master plan may cost R750bn". Business Day. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- "Toll Roads". Foresight Publications. Retrieved 8 July 2019.