St Helena Tunnel

The St Helena Tunnel is a twin-tube road tunnel that forms part of the Pacific Highway in the Byron Bay hinterland in New South Wales, Australia. The 434 m tunnel under St Helena Hill in Ewingsdale was built as part of the 17 km Tintenbar to Ewingsdale upgrade, which involved a new alignment of the highway.

Features
The tunnel was built to avoid the steep grades of St Helena Hill on the previous alignment of the highway, and the associated heavy truck noise and pollution. At its deepest point the tunnel is 45 m below the 131 m ridge line. There are two tunnels, with the northbound tunnel accommodating two traffic lanes and the southbound three traffic lanes, due to the gradient of the highway at this point. There is also a bicycle/pedestrian lane in each tunnel.

The cost of the Tintenbar–Ewingsdale upgrade project was $862 million, jointly funded by the Federal and New South Wales governments. It opened on 18 December 2015.

The St Helena Road passes over the top of the tunnel and provides local access to the Bangalow Road (B62) that is a link between Bangalow and Byron Bay.

Milestones

 * January 2010 – Planning approval and construction funding for the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale project including the St Helena Tunnel
 * May 2010 – Roads & Maritime Services called for expressions of interest for the construction of the upgrade
 * December 2010 – three companies were invited to submit detailed tenders
 * August 2011 – the contract was awarded to Lendlease
 * 27 September 2012 – the shovel ceremony was held to commemorate the start of construction
 * 28 May 2013 – Blasting began on the twin tunnels
 * 24 January 2014 – Excavator broke through on the northbound tunnel
 * 26 February 2014 – Excavator broke through on the southbound tunnel
 * December 2015 – Commissioning of tunnels began
 * 18 December 2015 – The highway upgrade, including the twin tunnels, opened to traffic