Works continuing to upgrade Heysen Tunnels

Wednesday, 10 May 2023

Work on the refit of the Heysen Tunnels is continuing, to ensure they continue to service South Australia for decades to come.

Following successful investigation works over the past 2 months, the main construction phase will now get underway.

The Australian and South Australian governments have jointly committed funding towards work as part of the South Eastern Freeway Upgrade Project. The tunnel refit work will address current elements that are at the end of their service life, to improve safety, traffic management and incident response capabilities.

The scope includes:

• upgrades to the tunnel lighting to a new LED system;
• installation of a new automated fire suppression system;
• upgrades to the tunnel ventilation system;
• repairs to the tunnel lining and installation of monitoring equipment;
• upgrades to the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) equipment including thermal incident detection systems, new and replacement CCTV, electronic speed and messaging signage and over height vehicle detection;
• upgrades to the traffic management system to restrict access to the tunnels in the event of an emergency incident; and
• upgrades to emergency communication systems, including public address, radio rebroadcast, in-tunnel signage and help phones to improve safety and network reliability.

McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust.) Pty Ltd has been appointed as the Managing Contractor for the works and where possible, local sub-contractors and suppliers will be engaged to deliver packages of works.

Over fifty-thousand vehicles travel through the tunnels each day, with approximately 10% of these being heavy vehicles.

To minimise the impacts to road users during the project, the majority of works are being undertaken Sunday to Thursday between 7pm and 6am. It is not anticipated that works will be undertaken on Friday and Saturday nights or public holidays, however advance notice will be provided by on site messaging boards if this changes.

From Sunday, 14 May 2023, the Adelaide bound (down-track) tunnel will close between 8pm and 6am (traffic restrictions from 7pm). During these closure times, the Crafers bound (up-track) tunnel will accommodate traffic in both directions, via contraflow. As work progresses, closures will alternate between the up track and down track tunnels until completion in late 2024.

During the work, speed will be restricted to 40km/h in both directions on the approach to the tunnels and through the open tunnel. From 6am each morning, traffic arrangements will return to normal with posted speed limits to be reinstated for both carriageways.

For more information visit the website.