Western Scheldt Tunnel ( nl, Westerscheldetunnel, Westerscheldetunnel) is a tunnel in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

that carries highway N62 under the

Western Scheldt The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving th ...

estuary between

Ellewoutsdijk Ellewoutsdijk ( zea, Ellesdiek) is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Borsele, and lies about 18 km east of Vlissingen. History The village was first mentioned in 1216 as Elewoldesdike, and mean ...

and

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentio ...

. It is the longest tunnel for highway traffic in the Netherlands.

History and description

The tunnel was built by a consortium of Franki Construct,

Heijmans Heijmans N.V. is a major European construction-services business with Dutch-based headquarters. History The company was founded by Jan Heijmans in Rosmalen in 1923. It was first listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1993. Operations The com ...

Royal BAM Group Royal BAM Group nv ( nl, Koninklijke BAM Groep nv) is a Dutch construction-services business with headquarters in Bunnik, Netherlands. It is the largest construction company based on revenue in the Netherlands. History The company was founded by ...

Philipp Holzmann Philipp Holzmann AG was a German construction company based in Frankfurt am Main. History Early years The company was founded in 1849 by Johann Philipp Holzmann (1805-1870) at Sprendlingen in present-day Dreieich near Frankfurt am Main as Phil ...

, TBI Beton- en Waterbouw Voormolen and Wayss & FreytagStructurae database
/ref> on behalf of NV Westerscheldetunnel (Western Scheldt Tunnel Company), which is 100% owned by the province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. The tunnel was opened on 14 March 2003. Since then, the two automobile ferry lines

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

Breskens Breskens is a harbour town on the Westerschelde in the municipality of Sluis in the province of Zeeland, in the south-western Netherlands. Its population is 4,787 (). The town is noted for the ''Visserijfeesten'' (Fishery Festival), the largest ...

and Kruiningen-Perkpolder, operated by the Provincial Steamboat Service (Provinciale Stoombootdiensten), have been discontinued. The Western Scheldt Tunnel is a bored tunnel and consists of two tubes which were excavated by a

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...

. Each tube has two car lanes without a hard shoulder. Every 250 metres, the two tunnel tubes are connected by lateral connections. Normally the cross-connections are closed and locked. In an emergency, the doors unlock automatically. The traffic in the left driving lane of the other tunnel is stopped, allowing people to walk safely into the other tunnel. The Western Scheldt Tunnel is diameter, long, with on the south end a stretch of road with an uphill grade of 4.5%. The maximum clearance is . The tunnel reaches its deepest point under the Pas van Terneuzen shipping lane, below water level. For both directions, the toll is collected near Borssele, near the north end of the tunnel.

Bus services

The tunnel is not accessible for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

s or

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds ty ...

riders; however, there are

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

services and on request (one hour in advance) bicycles and mopeds can be transported in the bus and a trailer, respectively.

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

nodes are Tolplein (

Borsele Borsele (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Bossele) is a municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland. The name of the municipality is spelled with a single s; the name of the eponymous village is Borssele, spelled with double s. The m ...

) on the north bank and Terneuzen Busstation on the south bank. Bus services through these nodes are provided by Connexxion: *Bus 20:

Goes Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Korte ...

- Tolplein-

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

- Sluiskil-

Sas van Gent Sas van Gent is a town in the Netherlands. It is located in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Terneuzen and lies about 30 km south of Vlissingen on the border with Belgium. The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal passe ...

Zelzate Zelzate () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality only comprises the town of Zelzate proper. In 2021, Zelzate had a total population of 13,124. The total area is 13.71 km2. Zelzate is divided in ...

(

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

) *Bus 50: between

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

and Hulst Regular bus fares apply.

Tolls

* Cars: €5.00 * Motorcycles €2.50 * Cars with caravan: €7.45 * Small trucks, campers and buses: €18.20 * Large trucks: €25.00 Emergency vehicles and military vehicles are toll-free. Reduced tolls are available for subscribers (respectively €3.05, €4.55, €11.15 and €15.25). That is more expensive than the ferry over the Western Scheldt that operated before the tunnel was opened. As well, there is no reduced toll for residents of

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; zea, Zeêuws-Vlaonderen; vls, Zêeuws-Vloandern)''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates ...

(Zeeuws-Vlaanderen). Correct as of 12/04/2014

Lawsuit Committee Tunnel Toll Free

In April 2006, Zeelandic Flanders citizens in cooperation with the Socialist Party of Terneuzen established the Lawsuit Committee Tunnel Toll-Free (Actiecomité TunnelTolvrij.nl). The purpose of this lawsuit is first to oppose the sale of the tunnel and secondly to make the tunnel toll free.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Toll tunnels in Europe Road tunnels in the Netherlands Tunnels in Zeeland Tunnels completed in 2003 Borsele Terneuzen Zeelandic Flanders Zuid-Beveland