Liefkenshoektunnel
| Liefkenshoektunnel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Entering the tunnel
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| length | 1374 m | |||
| construction | ||||
| start of building | 1987 | |||
| business | ||||
| release | 1991 | |||
| location | ||||
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| Coordinates | ||||
| 51 ° 17 ′ 26 " N , 4 ° 17 ′ 34" E | ||||
| 51 ° 18 ′ 5 ″ N , 4 ° 18 ′ 6 ″ E | ||||
Map with all coordinates: The Liefkenshoektunnel is a toll tunnel in the north of Antwerp and runs under the Scheldt . The tunnel is part of the R2 expressway . In 2009, 4,197,236 cars and 2,176,658 trucks made use of the tunnel.
The tunnel has a length of 1374 meters. Construction began in 1987 and opened to traffic in 1991. It has 2 lanes in each direction of travel, each 3.75 meters wide. ADR traffic is expressly permitted. The maximum clearance height is 5.1 meters, the width for special transports must not exceed 7.5 meters.
Cost of using the tunnel
Since 2014 the toll (including VAT) has been:
- for vehicles with a height of less than 2.75 m: 6.00 euros
or when paying by credit card: 4.95 euros
- for vehicles with a height of 2.75 m or more: 19.00 euros
or when paying by credit card: 17.60 euros
With your own Liefkenshoektunnel user card ( Teletol ), the costs for regular users are reduced to EUR 3.56 and EUR 14.16.
history
The tunnel owes its name to the nearby Liefkenshoek fortress. The tunnel was built from 1987 by NV Tunnel Liefkenshoek , an association of the construction companies De Meyer, Betonac and Van Laere. It opened on July 10, 1991. An agreement concluded on October 3, 1985 granted the joint venture ownership and toll revenue up to July 9, 2009.
Originally it was assumed that the toll revenue would amount to 16.2 billion Belgian francs . The tunnel was then to be handed over to the Belgian state free of charge after a service life of 22 years. The number of tunnel users, however, remained below expectations.
The company NV Liefkenshoektunnel accused the Flemish administration of being responsible for the reduced use. You did not create the promised access roads. The first court instance shared the position of NV Liefkenshoektunnel . On June 30, 1994, a decree was issued that the Flemish administration had to pay compensation of 2.2 billion Belgian francs within 5 days; this was linked to a penalty interest of 5 million Belgian francs per day in arrears. The judge also sentenced the administration to an annual income compensation of 1 billion Belgian francs.
A settlement was reached on May 16, 1995 . All shares in the loss-making Liefkenshoektunnel were bought by the Flemish administration for an amount of 320 million Belgian francs. In addition, the administration took over the 2.2 billion compensation that was imposed on it in the first instance.
The tunnel consists of 8 prefabricated elements, each 142 meters in length. They were towed across the Scheldt to their place of construction in tugs.
Toll exemption for traffic problems
In 2000, an agreement was reached with NV Liefkenshoek that the tunnel would be temporarily toll-free in the event of traffic problems on the Antwerp road network. During the work on the Kennedy Tunnel in 2004 and 2005, the Liefkenshoektunnel was declared toll-free for several days. Even if a serious traffic accident occurs on the Antwerp ring road, the Liefkenshoektunnel can be declared toll-free. This decision is made by the Flemish Transport Center.
Web links
- Liefkenshoektunnel. Retrieved on December 11, 2014 (website of the road tunnel operator).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Traffic volume ( memento of the original dated August 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ De Tijd, March 16, 1995
