39-563: The Tyne Tunnel is the name given to a pair of two-lane vehicular toll tunnels under the River Tyne in North East England . Originally opened in 1967 and expanded in 2011, the tunnels connect the town of Jarrow on the south bank of the river with North Shields and Wallsend on the northern side. The tunnels are approximately 7 miles (11 km) downstream, to the east of Newcastle upon Tyne . The Tyne Tunnel constitutes
78-427: A private finance initiative 30-year "design–build–finance–operate" contract by Bouygues Construction . Onshore sections of the new tunnel were built using the cut-and-cover method. Under-river sections of the tunnel were prefabricated, floated into position, immersed into a dredged trench, and covered with rocks. By beginning of November 2009, the land approaches to the tunnel had been excavated, and construction of
117-459: A disaster. The first, Seconds from Disaster – Tunnel Inferno (aired 2004), was a reconstruction of the events leading up to and during the disaster and the conclusions of the investigation that followed. The second, Into the Flames – Fire Underground (aired 2006), revisited the circumstances and showed how new technology in the form of a new type of fire extinguisher could have reduced the scale of
156-527: A kilometre of the French side. The larger trucks were stranded, as they did not have the space to turn around, and reversing out was not an option. Most drivers rolled up their windows and waited for rescue. The ventilation system in the tunnel drove toxic smoke back down the tunnel faster than anyone could run to safety. These fumes quickly filled the tunnel and restricted oxygen, disabling vehicles including fire engines which, once affected, had to be abandoned by
195-669: A part of the A19 road . A scheme for the construction of a set of three tunnels under the Tyne was put forward by the Durham and Northumberland county councils in 1937. After prolonged negotiations with the Ministry of Transport , the scheme was approved in 1943. The Tyne Tunnel Act 1946, the legislative instrument necessary to enable the construction of the tunnels, received royal assent in 1946. Postwar restrictions on capital expenditure delayed
234-559: A state-of-the-art active fire suppression system which is now included in its design. It is the first in the UK to be fitted with a water mist active fire suppression system, and will further ensure the safety of thousands of people who will travel through it every day. The original 1960s-built tunnel was slated as of one of the least safe in Europe in 2000, according to a study. Inspectors visited 25 major tunnels around Europe after fire devastated
273-498: A transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy. When it stopped halfway through the tunnel, it violently combusted. Other vehicles traveling through the tunnel quickly became trapped and they also caught fire as firefighters were unable to reach the transport truck. 39 people were killed. In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety. On
312-945: Is incomplete ; you can help by adding missing items . ( November 2024 ) Tolls removed [ edit ] Tseung Kwan O Tunnel , Sau Mau Ping to Tseung Kwan O Kai Tak Tunnel , Cheung Tsing Tunnel Nam Wan Tunnel Scenic Hill Tunnel and Airport Tunnel Central - Wan Chai Bypass Tunnel Lung Shan Tunnel / Cheung Shan Tunnel Tuen Mun - Chek Lap Kok Tunnel Tseung Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel References [ edit ] ^ "Whittier Tunnel, Transportation & Public Facilities, State of Alaska" . ^ "Car Toll Rates" . Metropolitan Transportation Authority . "Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, and Robert F. Kennedy Bridges; Hugh L. Carey and Queens Midtown Tunnels" section . Retrieved 2024-01-14 . ^ "Transportation_Department" . Transportation Department, The Government of
351-450: Is 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) in length. The UK government gave the go-ahead for the scheme in July 2005. Construction work started in spring 2008, with the new tunnel opening to two-lane bi-directional traffic on 25 February 2011, at which point the original tunnel closed for a ten-month refurbishment. The timeline for the new Tyne Tunnel was as follows: The tunnel was constructed under
390-415: Is fitted with a fixed fire suppression system which releases a fine mist to contain fires to help motorists leave safely and to prevent damage to the tunnel structure. There is also a separate evacuation corridor which runs adjacent to the main tunnel. The old tunnel, now fully refurbished, includes many of the same safety features. The New Tyne crossing is claimed to be one of the safest in the UK, thanks to
429-4768: Is required to pass through. List of toll tunnels [ edit ] United States [ edit ] Tunnel name Operated by Road carried Passes under Length Cash tolls (automobile) Notes (ft) (m) Alaska Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel Alaska DOT & PF Portage Glacier Highway Maynard Mountain 13,300.0 4,053.8 $ 13.00 Cash and Credit Card (Tolls eastbound only) Maryland Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Maryland Transportation Authority I-895 Patapsco River 7,650.0 2,331.7 $ 4.00 E-ZPass or Pay-by-Plate Fort McHenry Tunnel I-95 7,200.0 2,194.6 Massachusetts Callahan Tunnel Massachusetts DOT Route 1A Northbound Boston Harbor 5,068.8 1,545.0 $ 2.05 E-ZPass or Pay-by-Plate Sumner Tunnel Route 1A Southbound 5,649.6 1,722.0 Ted Williams Tunnel I-90 8,448.0 2,575.0 Michigan / Ontario, Canada Detroit-Windsor Tunnel Detroit-Windsor Tunnel Company, LLC M-3 Detroit River 5,150.0 1,569.7 $ 5.00 Cash, Credit Card, or Nexpress New Jersey / New York Holland Tunnel Port Authority of NY & NJ I-78 Hudson River 8,558.0 2,608.5 $ 16.00 E-ZPass or Pay-by- Plate (Tolls eastbound only) Lincoln Tunnel Route 495 / NY 495 8,216.0 2,504.2 New York Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Metropolitan Transportation Authority I-478 East River 9,117.0 2,778.9 $ 6.94 (NY E-ZPass) $ 9.11 (Mid-Tier) $ 11.19 (Non NY E-ZPass/ Pay-by-Plate) E-ZPass or Pay-by-Plate. Mid-Tier tolls are charged for NY EZ-Pass customers who are not using their EZ-Pass transponder. Queens-Midtown Tunnel I-495 6,414.0 1,955.0 Texas Addison Airport Toll Tunnel North Texas Tollway Authority Keller Springs Road Addison Airport 1,600.0 487.7 $ 0.53 TollTag or Pay-by-Plate Virginia Downtown Tunnel Elizabeth River Crossings I-264 Elizabeth River 3,813.0 1,162.2 $ 4.00 E-ZPass or Pay-by-Plate Midtown Tunnel US 58 4,194.0 1,278.3 Washington Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel Washington State Department of Transportation SR 99 Downtown Seattle 9,270.0 2,825.5 $ 1–2.25 Good to Go or pay-by-plate Tolls removed [ edit ] Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel , between Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia South Africa [ edit ] Huguenot Tunnel , South Africa United Kingdom [ edit ] Dartford Crossing , Kent to Essex Kingsway Tunnel , Wallasey to Liverpool Queensway Tunnel , Birkenhead to Liverpool Tyne Tunnel , North Shields to South Shields Ireland [ edit ] Dublin Port Tunnel , Dublin Limerick Tunnel , Limerick Australia [ edit ] Burnley and Domain Tunnels , CityLink , Melbourne Melba and Mullum-Mullum Tunnels, EastLink , Melbourne Sydney Harbour Tunnel Clem Jones Tunnel , Brisbane, Queensland Airport Link, Brisbane , Brisbane, Queensland Legacy Way , Brisbane, Queensland WestConnex , Sydney, New South Wales NorthConnex , Sydney, New South Wales Lane Cove Tunnel , Sydney, New South Wales Belgium [ edit ] Liefkenshoek Tunnel , Antwerp Netherlands [ edit ] Western Scheldt Tunnel , Terneuzen to Ellewoutsdijk Kiltunnel , Dordrecht Tolls removed [ edit ] Beneluxtunnel , Rotterdam Montenegro [ edit ] Sozina Tunnel , Montenegro (2005) Croatia [ edit ] Učka Tunnel , Croatia (1981) Germany [ edit ] Alter Elbtunnel , Hamburg , Germany Malaysia [ edit ] Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel ( SMART Tunnel ), Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia Hong Kong [ edit ] Aberdeen Tunnel , Happy Valley to Wong Chuk Eagle's Nest Tunnel Lion Rock Tunnel , Kowloon Tong to Hin Tin Shing Mun Tunnels , Tsuen Wan to Sha Tin Tai Wai Tunnel [REDACTED] This list
SECTION 10
#1732772258986468-609: The talk page . ( Learn how and when to remove these messages ) [REDACTED] This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Toll tunnel" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2021 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) [REDACTED] The factual accuracy of parts of this article (those related to
507-523: The 11.6 kilometres (7.2 mi) tunnel, in an attempt to fight the fire, but was suddenly forced back when the payload violently combusted. Degrave subsequently abandoned his vehicle and ran to the Italian entrance of the tunnel. At 10:54, one of the drivers called from refuge 22 to raise the alarm. At 10:55, the tunnel employees triggered the fire alarm and stopped any further traffic from entering. At this point, there were at least 10 cars and 18 trucks in
546-793: The Hong Kong Administrative Region . Retrieved 2024-11-18 . Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toll_tunnel&oldid=1258241872 " Categories : Toll tunnels Road tunnels Toll roads Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from January 2021 All articles needing additional references Articles with obsolete information from July 2022 All Misplaced Pages articles in need of updating Articles with multiple maintenance issues Incomplete lists from November 2024 Mont Blanc Tunnel fire On 24 March 1999,
585-615: The Mont Blanc Tunnel under the Alps between France and Italy. The Tyne Tunnel was officially rated as "poor" and languished near the bottom of the European league table. The inspectors found it had no automatic fire alarm system, poor lighting, no laybys or hard shoulder, and an emergency walkway that could be reached only by able-bodied people. They also criticised its smoke extraction system. These deficiencies were addressed during
624-496: The Mont Blanc Tunnel to survive for four hours. It was more than five days before the tunnel cooled sufficiently to start repairs. The tunnel underwent major changes in the three years it remained closed after the fire. Renovations include computerized detection equipment, extra security bays, a parallel escape shaft and a fire station in the middle of the tunnel complete with double-cabbed fire trucks. The safety shafts also have clean air flowing through them via vents. Any people in
663-519: The Tyne Tunnel launched open-road-tolling, a cashless system that saw the complete removal of barriers and physical payment booths. 54°59′16″N 1°29′08″W / 54.98778°N 1.48556°W / 54.98778; -1.48556 Toll tunnel Road tunnel with a monetary charge [REDACTED] This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on
702-431: The burning truck. Without other possibilities, they abandoned their vehicles and took refuge in two of the emergency fire cubicles (fire-door sealed small rooms set into the walls every 600 metres (2,000 ft)). Between 10:57 and 11:01, Italian firefighters had come within 300 metres of the truck, with two of them able to proceed to the garage 21. They were able to see the burning truck. However, burning fuel flowed down
741-429: The construction of the vehicular tunnel, but work started on the smaller tunnels for pedestrians and cyclists in 1947. The vehicle tunnel is 5,500 feet (1,700 metres) long and has a diameter of 31 ft 3 in (9.5 m) with a roadbed 24 ft (7.3 m). It was built by Edmund Nuttall Limited and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 October 1967, but commenced operational use only in 1968, on completion of
780-531: The current toll rates) may be compromised due to out-of-date information . Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( July 2022 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) [REDACTED] Toll booths at the approach to the Aberdeen Tunnel in Hong Kong A toll tunnel is a road tunnel where a monetary charge (or toll )
819-410: The deceased were on the French side, and were ultimately reduced to bones and ash by the intense heat . Of the initial fifty people trapped by the fire, twelve survived, all of them from the Italian side. Some victims were able to escape to the fire cubicles. The original fire doors on the cubicles were rated to survive for two hours. Some had been upgraded in the thirty-four years since construction of
SECTION 20
#1732772258986858-414: The disaster and enabled the fire service to reach and remain in the vicinity to fight the fire. Pierlucio Tinazzi , an Italian security guard who died attempting to rescue a truck driver, was posthumously awarded Italy's Medaglia d'Oro al Valore Civile . In Grenoble , France, 16 people and companies were tried on 31 January 2005 for manslaughter . Defendants in the trial included: The exact cause of
897-467: The driver realized something was wrong as cars coming in the opposite direction flashed their headlights at him; a glance in his mirrors showed white smoke coming out from under his cabin. This was not yet considered a fire emergency. In fact, there had been 16 other truck fires in the tunnel over the previous 35 years, always extinguished on the spot by the drivers. At 10:53, the driver of the vehicle, Gilbert Degrave, stopped 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) into
936-457: The fire is disputed. One account reported it to be a cigarette stub carelessly thrown at the truck, which supposedly entered the engine induction snorkel above the cabin, setting the paper air filter on fire. Others blamed a mechanical or electrical fault, or poor maintenance of the truck's engine. An investigation found no evidence of a design fault with the truck. The closest smoke detector was out of order, and French emergency services did not use
975-415: The fire. They were blocked at garage 22 and had also abandoned their vehicles and searched for trapped groups of firefighters who had taken refuge in the fire cubicles. When it was realized that the cubicles were offering little protection from the smoke, they began searching for the doors that led to the ventilation duct. By 11:30, 37 minutes after start of the fire, smoke had reached the French entrance of
1014-530: The firefighters. Many drivers near the blaze who attempted to leave their cars and seek refuge points were quickly overcome due to toxic components of the smoke, mainly hydrogen cyanide. At 10:57 and 10:59, two fire trucks from Chamonix responded to the unfolding disaster. Melted wiring had eliminated any possible light sources in the tunnel; in the smoke and with abandoned and wrecked vehicles blocking their path, both fire engines were unable to proceed, and were blocked at garage 17, 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) from
1053-511: The hospital. The fire burned for fifty-three hours and was estimated to have reached a temperature of 1,000 °C (1,830 °F), mainly because of the margarine load in the trailer, equivalent to a 23,000-litre (5,100 imp gal; 6,100 US gal) oil tanker. The fire spread to other cargo vehicles nearby that also carried combustible loads. The fire trapped around 40 vehicles in dense and poisonous smoke containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide . Due to weather conditions at
1092-564: The morning of 24 March 1999, 39 people died when a Belgian transport truck carrying flour and margarine , which had entered the French-side portal, caught fire in the tunnel. The truck came through the tollbooth at 10:46 CET. The initial journey through the tunnel was routine. According to the National Geographic documentary programme Seconds from Disaster , the fire and smoke appeared at around 10:49. Shortly after,
1131-533: The northbound tunnel, leaving the new tunnel to handle southbound traffic. In March 2004 the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority launched a scheme to build a second, £139 million tunnel. The tunnel is slightly to the east of the existing tunnel, and the pairing allows each tunnel to serve two lanes of traffic, each travelling in the same direction; the original tunnel had two single lanes of traffic in opposing directions, representing an avoidable risk. The tunnel
1170-548: The northern link roads. It was designed to handle 25,000 vehicles per day. The original toll for cars was 2 s 6 d (12.5p). On completion of the second Tyne road tunnel, which opened with a single lane in each direction, the original 1967 Tyne Tunnel closed in February 2011 for a complete revamp, which included the installation of a safety corridor throughout its length. Once this work was complete, it reopened in November 2011 as
1209-546: The peaks of commercial traffic. The experience gained from the investigation into the fire was one of the principal factors that led to the creation of the French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau . TV documentaries were also made concerning the disaster, all distributed worldwide and focusing on either safety aspects or the circumstances that turned what should have been a serious, but controllable incident into
Tyne Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-471: The refurbishment of the original road tunnel in 2011. As of 2024 the toll charge is £2.40 for cars and light vans. Trucks and buses pay £4.80. Motorcycles use the tunnel free and Blue Badge holders can apply for an exemption account. A 10% discount is available to those who pre-pay via the Internet. In May 2020, the operator of the Tyne Tunnel, TT2, introduced an option to 'pay later'. In November 2021,
1287-422: The road surface, causing tyres and fuel tanks to explode and sending deadly shrapnel in the air, thus spreading fire to other vehicles. This had forced Italian firefighters to retreat, and they rescued 12 people from Italian side. At 11:10 six Chamonix firefighters entered the tunnel but were blocked at the garage 17 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) from the truck. By 11:11, more Italian firefighters had come to tackle
1326-491: The same radio frequency as those inside the tunnel. The Italian company responsible for operating the tunnel, SITMB, paid €13.5 million ($ 17.5 million US) to a fund for the families of the victims. Édouard Balladur , former president of the French company operating the tunnel (from 1968 to 1980), and later Prime Minister of France, underwent a witness examination. He was asked about the security measures that he ordered, or did not order, to be carried out. Balladur claimed that
1365-532: The security bays now have video contact with the control centre, so they can communicate with the people trapped inside and inform them about what is happening in the tunnel more clearly. A remote site for cargo safety inspection was created on each side: Aosta in Italy and Passy-Le Fayet in France. Here all trucks are inspected well before the tunnel entrance. These remote sites are also used as staging areas, to smooth
1404-488: The time, airflow through the tunnel was from the Italian side to the French side. Authorities compounded the chimney effect by pumping in further fresh air from the Italian side, escalating the fire while trapping toxic fumes inside. Only vehicles past the fire on the French side of the tunnel were trapped, while cars on the Italian side of the fire were mostly unaffected. There were 29 deaths of people trapped inside of vehicles, and nine more died trying to escape on foot. All
1443-468: The tunnel that had entered from the French side. A few vehicles from the Italian side passed the Volvo truck without stopping. Some of the cars from the French side managed to turn around in the narrow two-lane tunnel to retreat back to France, but navigating the road in the dense smoke that had rapidly filled the tunnel quickly made this impossible. Between 10:53 and 10:57, the smoke had already covered half
1482-466: The tunnel, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the truck. At 11:39, another team of firefighters entered the tunnel from the French side but were blocked at the garage 5, 4,800 metres (15,700 ft) from the truck. All the firefighters were rescued five hours later by a third fire crew that responded and reached them via a ventilation duct; of the 15 firefighters who had been trapped, 14 were in serious condition and one (their commanding officer) later died in
1521-422: The tunnel, in four 300-foot (90 m) sections, had been completed nearby. The dredger used to excavate the river section of the tunnel cutting arrived on site on 4 November 2009 to excavate 400,000 cubic metres of sediment, which was used to infill the defunct Tyne Dock , reclaiming 13 acres (53,000 m) of land for use by Port of Tyne . Both ends of the tunnel finally met on 26 May 2010. The new tunnel
#985014