Not only is it the longest tunnel in South Africa and possibly in the whole of Africa, but the Huguenot Tunnel on the N1 between Paarl and Worcester could arguably be considered one of the greatest civil engineering works in the history of South Africa.
Initial construction on the 3 900 m long tunnel began in 1984 and it was officially opened for traffic in March 1988 – thus marking 35 years of civil engineering excellence in 2023.
The tunnel is 11 km shorter than the alternative Du Toits Kloof Pass, which can save one up to 25 minutes of driving.
wagon road be constructed
Lucina Dordley, an author with the Cape Town Etc. publication, in 2021, said the history of the Huguenot Tunnel is closely tied to the Du Toits Kloof Pass, which is named after French Waldensian Francois du Toit.
“Du Toit arrived in the Western Cape as a refugee, along with the Huguenot families that had fled religious persecution in France [from the late 1600s],” she wrote.
“On arrival, he acquired a piece of land to farm from Dutch authorities. He named this farm Kleine Bosch, and it was located just below the Hawequa Mountains
“In 1778, Governor van Plettenberg suggested a wagon road be constructed. Four decades passed before anything came of this suggestion.
“A German farmer named Detlef Siegfried Schonfeldt, who was a former lieutenant in the 45th Württemberg Hussars and owned a farm in what was already known as Du Toits Kloof, approached the local farming community, which included areas such as Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and Worcester, and suggested a road be built through Du Toits Kloof to benefit everyone.”
Almost two decades of funding and construction challenges passed, it was only in 1935 that the National Road Board revived the plans for the construction of a proper pass.
construction workers were Italian
The Du Toit Kloof Pass was constructed in the midst of the Second World War and was completed around the late 1940s.
According to Dordley, most of these construction workers were Italian prisoners of war. “South Africa was asked to host a number of Italian prisoners of war, and approximately 10 000 were detained in Worcester.
“This was advantageous, as Italians were considered as being among the best road and pass builders in the world. The government offered the prisoners an exchange of food and accommodation for building the Du Toits Kloof Pass.”
She said the Italians celebrated the completion of the pass by carting a massive aluminium cross on Huguenot Top, which can still be seen today.
By the early 1970s major traffic volumes were noted on the Du Toits Kloof Pass, which led to plans being drafted for the construction of the Huguenot Tunnel.
Construction began in 1984 and the tunnel was opened for traffic in 1988 at a cost of more than R200 million, Dordley wrote, and the added costs of improvements to road infrastructure on its eastern side inflated this figure to R500 million.
a service tunnel was also built
Apart from the main tunnel a service tunnel was also built that is today used in case of emergencies to re-route traffic or give easy access to emergency vehicles.
In 2021, after more than 30 years of providing safe passage for over 100 million vehicles the main tunnel received a comprehensive upgrade after its electrical and mechanical systems had neared end of life.
The tunnel is maintained by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) and some of the upgrades included the overhauling of two sets of jet fans on either ends of the tunnel.
These fans pump fresh air into the tunnel and also extract smoke and other fumes to assist in improving air flow.
Further improvements were also made to the tunnel’s ventilation bypass doors as well as the upgrading of emergency and firefighting equipment.
The tunnel has also recently been fitted with interactive LED lighting that adapt to the darker environment inside the tunnel and then again to lighter areas at the beginning and end.
During an oversight visit by Sindiswa Chikunga, Minister of Transport, in May this year, she confirmed her department, together with Sanral, was in the process of refurbishing and upgrading the service tunnel, to turn it into a fully functional one that will allow for two lanes of traffic to flow, in both directions. This process is expected to take three to years.
