Hindhead Tunnel on A3 in Surrey (UK) opens with enhanced delineation by Astucia's latest hardwired intelligent road studs
The £371 million A3 Hindhead Tunnel was officially opened today (Wednesday July 27th 2011) by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond. The northbound bore opens on Friday 29th July 2011 allowing vastly improved journeys on the main route between London and Portsmouth.
The 1.2 mile tunnel – the longest of its type in the UK – is part of a four-mile bypass of the Surrey village of Hindhead. It will benefit road users and the local community by reducing traffic at the notorious bottleneck in Hindhead and restoring peace and tranquility to a highly valued part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by diverting the A3 away from the Devil's Punchbowl, an internationally protected site.
The tunnel includes an installation of 868 Astucia hardwired studs split equally between the 2 tunnel bores. Each bore has 2 lanes and there are 64 independent strings and 36 controllers. The studs are positioned every 4.5 metres between the white central line markings. Motorists will be able to benefit from the guidance of ultra bright, adaptive lights, emitting a full 180 degrees of illumination when switched from uni-directional for normal tunnel opertation to bi-directional delineation when a single bore is being used in a contra flow mode.
For further information about the tunnel read our case study here
See a drive through of the tunnel with the BBC here