The Heysen Tunnels are twin tube road tunnels which carry the

South Eastern Freeway South Eastern Freeway is a freeway in South Australia (SA). It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities of Adelaide, SA, and Melbourne, Victoria, and signed as National Highway M1. It carries traffic over t ...

under Eagle On The Hill in the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The tunnels were excavated using a tunnelling machine normally used in heavy-duty mining operations which tunnelled through of rock for each tunnel at an average rate of per day. The tunnels were completed in 1998 and opened on 5 March 2000. Each tunnel carries three lanes of traffic. As at 2015, 45,700 vehicles passed through them daily. The maximum height of vehicles permitted in the tunnels is , the same as the Crafers and Mt Osmond interchanges. Laser height detectors monitor traffic to provide warnings to drivers before they attempt to enter the tunnel. The tunnels are named after artist Sir Hans Heysen.

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Tunnels completed in 2000 Tunnels in South Australia Road tunnels in Australia {{Australia-road-stub

See also

References