March 5, 2000
In the state of South Australia (SA), the Heysen Tunnels in the Adelaide suburb of Crafers West were officially opened. These twin-tube tunnels, which each encompass three lanes for vehicular traffic, carry the South Eastern Freeway beneath the locality known as Eagle On The Hill. The tunnels were named in memory of renowned artist Hans Heysen (1877-1968). The German-born Heysen spent most of his life in SA.
The construction of the Heysen Tunnels was the largest road project undertaken in SA up to that time. The tunnels have since become a pivotal link in the region’s larger transportation network. Tim Wheaton was one of the engineers involved in the building of the Heysen Tunnels, and a quarter-century after their public debut, he talked about both the enormity and intricacies of that ambitious effort.
“There was so much going on, it was incredible,” recalled Wheaton, “earthworks, roadworks, tunnelling, drilling and blasting, bridge construction, landscaping and revegetation, it was a very complex and challenging project.” (The accompanying photo of one of the tubes of the Heysen Tunnels was taken in 2006.)
Photo Credit: Blnguyen (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on the Heysen Tunnels, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysen_Tunnels
Additional information on the opening of these tunnels is available at https://www.weare.sa.gov.au/news/flashback-friday-the-opening-of-the-heysen-tunnels
A video about the ongoing maintenance of the Heysen Tunnels can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9DQcq7F268
Transportation History 
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