Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Queensway Tunnel

Proposals for a road crossing the Mersey go back to at least 1825. It was nearly a 100 years before much happened. Passengers had 2 main ways of crossing from Liverpool. There were ferry boats to various points on the Wirral peninsula; by the 1920's they were carrying about 35 million passengers a year. The trains were carrying over 10 million passengers a year.

In 1866 an Act was passed for the construction of a railway tunnel under the Mersey linking Birkenhead and Liverpool. Construction started in 1879 and was completed at the end of 1885. The trains were originally steam driven. But the problem with smoke led to electrification in 1903. (Twenty years after the first electric railway opened at Brighton.)

In 1922 a committee was set up between Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle and Wallasey to draw up plans for a crossing. The crossing was probably intended as much for business use as for motorists. The ferries and railway could cope with the passengers, but they could not cope very well with goods traffic. There was to be a tramway in the bottom half of the Tunnel. The work during the construction would also help to reduce unemployment. The committee was chaired by Sir Archibald Salvidge from Liverpool. He was the main driving force in getting the crossing. When it was decided that the crossing route would be between Liverpool and Birkenhead, Bootle and Wallasey left the committee.

A major decision was whether it would be a bridge or a tunnel. It was thought that a tunnel would be much cheaper to build and maintain. They also thought that a bridge could be damaged or block the river if there was a war. Any bridge supports on the river bed might have caused silting.

The plan for a tunnel was ambitious, it would be the largest underwater tunnel ever built.


Another major decision was how the construction was to be financed. The government wanted the crossing to be free of any Tolls, but after several years of negotiations it was agreed that the government would pay half the construction cost, one quarter would come from the rates in Liverpool and Birkenhead and one quarter from Tolls for a period of up to 20 years. (The running costs of the Tunnel were to come from the rates.) This was authorised in a 1925 Act and a Mersey Tunnel Joint Committee was formed comprising of Birkenhead and Liverpool Corporations.

About this time the proposals for the tramway were put on hold. There were various possible reasons for this. One was opposition from Birkenhead who wanted to protect their Ferries, another was that the government had said that they would reduce their contribution if a tramway was laid. The Tunnel would however still be excavated and built for most of it's length with a massive space under the roadway designed for the Tramway.

A further Act was needed in 1927 mainly because the siting of the Birkenhead entrance was changed, which led to an increase in costs. The Tolls were now to apply for up to 25 years.

In 1928 there was a further Act to again change the Birkenhead entrance and also to move the Liverpool entrance from Whitechapel to the Old Haymarket. But the overall cost and Toll period was the same.

1933 saw yet another Act. This time the costs had increased by a massive 40%. This seems to have been mainly due to an incident in an American road tunnel, and a decision that there had to be a massive improvement to ventilation. (This of course wouldn't have happened with a bridge!) As the government would not give any more money, the Tolls were now to last for up to 40 years.

While all these Acts were being passed the actual construction started at end of 1925. It was a mammoth undertaking involving thousands of workers. The engineers in charge were John Brodie, Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, and Basil Mott. The main tunnel (there were branch tunnels at either end) would be 2 miles 230 yards long, and it would be wide enough for 4 lanes of traffic with a total interior diameter of 44 feet.



The tunnel is not very deep, with the lowest point being only 170 feet below high water level in the river. (At one point, mid river, there is only 4 feet of solid rock above the tunnel. Perhaps they were lucky that they didn't get very very wet!) The pilot tunnel between Liverpool and Birkenhead was completed on 3 April 1928 when Sir Archibald Salvidge broke through the last rock (he hadn't done any of the rest of the digging!). Margaret Beavan, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool then shook hands with Alderman Frederick Naylor, the Mayor of Birkenhead. There were in fact 2 pilot tunnels, with the one for the roadway above that for the tramway.

The construction continued through various difficulties with excavation and drainage, and the unfortunate deaths of workers.

1,200,000 tons of rock were excavated using explosives and pneumatic drills between 1926 and 1931. The rock went to fill in Storeton Quarry on the Wirral side and to Dingle and Otterspool on the Liverpool side. The general technique used was to excavate and line the top (road) half of the tunnel, and then to excavate and line the bottom (tramway) half of the tunnel.



The main Mersey Tunnel has a circular section for most of it's length, presumably due to the tramway. There is a branch tunnel on each side of the river. The branches are semi circles with just a shallow space beneath the roadway. Part of the land sections of the "tunnel" were not tunnelled; they were built using cut and fill techniques; this includes the part which runs below Dale Street down towards the river.

The construction of the tunnel was massive in itself, but it also involved construction of gigantic ventilating machinery, shafts and buildings. The final cost of the tunnel and all the machinery etc was just over £6 million. With land and other bits and pieces this came to nearly £7 million or £7.5 million if you add the cost of borrowing during the construction.

The Tunnel was eventually brought into use on 17 December 1933, with an official opening on 18 July 1934.



Over 200,000 people gathered at the Old Haymarket to watch King George V and Queen Mary, officially open the Queensway tunnel.

As the national anthem played and the curtains began to rise, few were aware that the electrical mechanism had failed and instead two men were stationed either side, raising the curtains with hand cranks.

The Royal car led the way through the tunnel to Birkenhead, where three miles of crowds awaited their arrival, clambering on roof tops and hanging on to chimneys to obtain a better viewpoint.



On arrival, the Royal Party was introduced to Birkenhead's oldest inhabitant, 102 year old Sammual Gillingham. The party then went on to officially open Central Library on Borough Road, replacing the old library, demolished to make way for the tunnel entrance.

In the days that followed, the tunnel turned into something of a tourist attraction, with crowds watching the steady flow of traffic travelling between Liverpool and Birkenhead.


Liverpool entrance around 1960

Amazing joe, i really enjoyed reading that.
It looks huge the picture with the bloke climbing in side
with the wooden road so to speak.

Amazing

has any1 ever noticed that bit of the tunnel on the left (coming from birkenhead) its all dark and scary!!!

always wanted 2 no wats down der aswel

This One Click me

nooooooo.

wen ure in d tunnel goin 2wards lpool luk left b4 or after the part dat u can turn left at...


down der reli wierd jus a dark tunnel wiv no1 down der

lol it leads to the dock entrance by corporation road

well dtas poo an borin innit

fort it wudda led 2 sumwer mistikal wer d tunnel king or sum1 lives lol

lmao, you never know...theres a few tunnels under the mersey lol

dose it leed 2 the 1 were its blocked off by walsh's mot place?

yupp

Just been on the Queensway Tunnel Tour taking you under the road
of the tunnel.

And i managed to click some more pictures too

Will write more soon, need to dash out.

p.s

See my Queensway Tunnel Topic with more pictures.


Click Me

Wish the prices were the same today as they were back then lol

do they do group bookings, we could all go together, WikiWirral on tour

good idea mate

my dad helped in the construction of the wallasey tunnel, he got a medal for doin it.....

Well done that man!

After seeing the conditions those men worked under in the Queensway Tunnel I think he earned it

Anonymous - just passing...

yer defo i agree hard working life them days

just found this:

quality

Good find waddi
Post that stuff about the bicycle stuff

Oh right yeah I forgot all about that, give me a min to find it again

The Mersey Tunnels have their own set of byelaws!

a PDF file of them can be found here

Whilst quickly flicking through I noticed a few interesting things:

• Throughout the document the driver of the vehicle is refered to as a man i.e his, him or he. therefore on the byelaws in question a woman could use a loophole in the law to disobey them.
• Pedalbikes are permitted in the queensway but not the kingsway, I will post more info lower down.
• No person shall without permission of a Mersey Tunnels police officer enter tunnels on foot
• in reference to lost property that has been found and handed in; If any property is not claimed within six months it will be disposed of by selling it for the best price that can be reasonably obtained. (EBAY)

as for the Bicycle law. I found this in FAQ:

Can I ride my bicycle through the tunnel?
Bicycles are not permitted through the Kingsway Tunnel. Through the Queensway Tunnel, they are not allowed between the hours of 6.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Friday, 7.00am to 8.00pm on Saturday and 8.00am to 9.00pm on Sunday. Please note, the time limits during a Sunday are only operational between 1st April and 30th September inclusive.

I also found this in FAQ which is interesting:

Are the byelaws endorsable?
Not all byelaws are endorsable, only speeding.

what exactly does that mean?

Good stuff O wadfather

That's a point?
If its deemed a private road then normal laws shouldnt count?
But just like the M6 Toll they have speeding covered on that
one so maybe the same type of thing then.

Wouldn't mind going through on a push bike lol

a Sponsored bike ride, children in need in a few weeks.

I haven't got a bike
If you have one waddi can i go cross bar with you lol

I havent had a bike for about 10 years, dont even know if I could still ride one.

Interesting read them by-laws, looks like if you wanted to
ride a bike through there your best getting permission first.
As i think you would have to be escorted, and keep + 10mph.

Yeh i can see that on the up hill at the other side lol

You could waddi, ride a bike that is lol.

10mph min speed in the left hand lane, but 20mph min speed in the right hand lane.

Keep left then lol

interesting, I might try it one night.

I think the by-laws consist of sounding your horn and changing lane too, so you wont get points for these, only speeding

In the 1950's when I was working in Liverpool, I used to cycle through the tunnel most days. That, of course, was when I was young & fit & thought nothing of a quick 30 mile round trip to Chester at night just to keep in trim.

as for the kingsway tunnel aka the wallasey or new tunnel.

It was originally designed to be a 2 lane tunnel, the building of this tunnel started in 1966 and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in june of 1971. Afterwards they decided that it wasnt big enough and therefore built the another 2 lane tunnel running along side it in 1973.

This is maybe were the debt that mark touched upon came from, but it wasnt caused by the war.

A pic of the dock exit from the tunnel notice the traffic lights?

This is the Birkenhead one isn't it? I don't remember the lights actually working but I remember when they were taken away when the lights were redone in the early 80s.

[youtube]ZdBKg-KxHH0[/youtube]

Just having a closer look at the picture of the junction chamber. Note the road surface - cast iron blocks/setts ! I remember my father telling me how slippy they were when damp. Come to think about it, they must have had the skid resistance of a banana skin on a greasy plate !! You can still see remaining ones around the grids at the kerbside today.

In the early '60's I attended college in Childwall. One night a week I stayed late, so cycled back to Prenton via the tunnel instead of getting the boat. Great going down to the river bed, but what a long drag up again. You thought you were down there for the rest of your days. I guess I wasn't as fit as Chris !

In those days, you could cycle through the tunnel after 7pm(?) All that hard breathing in of exhaust fumes must have done wonders. However, I'm still cycling - just.

And no cats in them day's either... cars were built to warm the earth lol.

Ah such innocence, now you can't even go for a number 2 without the government wanting to advise you about how you're "gas" is damaging to peoples health and the enviroment.

True. Very true !!!

Great film clip Waddi

Stumbled across this 1955 Queensway ticket in my "junk" today so thought I would pop it up. Notice it is 4d to get through

bad that they dont even give you a ticket now

1955; a year before I left Birkenhead.

tell me about it mate you should try and explain to a company to re-emburse ya for the tunnel fee with out a receipt or ticket to prove you been through the bleedin things well all i know is gettin expences paid back for usin the tunnels from our company its like gettin blood out of a stone

only way to prove it is a fast-tag. roll on major toll protests

digging deeper - that is an amazing piece of 'junk'!

On the subject of the tunnel, I often wondered how the traffic flowed out of that first exit tunnel, crossing over the oncoming traffic. Not sure if you've seen this pic, can't see this working at all today:

Was there not lights there? or did they come later?

The lights are there if you look closely, on the dividing wall between the main tunnel and the branch.

I think they might still be there tbh.

They used lights,I think when they got the Wallasey tunnel running that's when they closed it,anybody ever cycle through the tunnel used to do it early Sunday morning going to work in Liverpool,it was fun well if the wing mirrors didn't clip you on the back or behind.

i go through the tunnel most nights will have a lookise for them and maybe get pics

I remember going down there as a kid when we had family days in Liverpool. Remember having to stop at the lights

You can still cycle through Queensway between certain hours if I'm not mistaken

I used to cycle through Queensway regularly in about 1955 when I was working in Liverpool. In those days I was very fit & used to ride from home to Chester & back most evenings just to keep in trim.

In the early 60's I was at college in Childwall. On the couple of nights a week I stayed late, I'd cycle back through the tunnel. I think cyclists were allowed through after 7pm (?) Outbound was via the ferry.

Great for half the journey, but..... I was obviously not as fit as Chris Boardman-Kay as I thought the uphill grind was never going to end ! I was weary enough after Childwall-Prenton, never mind cycling to Chester and back after work.

As davew3 rightly said, those wing mirrors of passing cars were out to get you ! One mistimed wobble and you were catmeat ! The noise and the exhaust fumes weren't a barrel of laughs either.

whenever i looked down that tunnel as a kid i would always shit me self because i though it went into the river.

A postcard of the Tunnel entrance, why anyone would send this is beyond me

Quite !!!

Quiet?

or quite quiet?

Both !! ha.ha. Mindyou, traffic is so light that some of the approach roads have grass growing over them !!

Bloody hell I didn't even know notice that. I remember when there was greenery everywhere. Ahhh mother nature and here last stand

Why not, it's about the time they computerised the traffic flow hence the lanes.

Don't think it's grass but just a lousy colour setup
other bit is the church is there and the funnel looks like the old Windsor Castle.

Yes davew3, I think you are right about the crappy colour rendition, but it "does" look like grass though.

My wife has just been given a certificate that belonged to her grandfather. This is the certificate that he recieved from Sir Archibald Salvidge and the Mersey Tunnel Joint Committee on the occasion of the two heading tunnels meeting and breaking through to each other in 1928. He also had the medal that was presented to him on the opening of the tunnel, which my wife now has too.
Does anybody know any history on these pieces? Were they presented to everyone who worked on the building of the tunnel?
Does anybody else have one of these?

I have one of the medals. They often appear on e-bay, which is where I got mine. Nice to have the more personal certificate though.

I notice that they broke through in 1928,yet it wasn't officially opened until 1934.I realise there was still an awful lot still to do but six years does seem a long time,but perhaps I am judging them by today's standards.

To give an idea of how much more was to be done after the breakthrough.

The breakthrough was in the lower pilot tunnel. There were two of these tunnels, each only 15 x 12 feet. The final diameter of the tunnel was 46 feet.
Here's a diagram.

All info. is from the book "The story of the Mersey Tunnel". This was, and probably still is, available from the tunnel HQ at George's Dock.

Thank you for the information Chriskay,I shall certainly research this further.

They didn't give one for the Wallasey tunnels,or if they did,who's got mine?

We went to the Museum of Liverpool yesterday. They have a display with items from the building and opening of the Birkenhead tunnel. They had the same silver medal in the display case along with a bronze/copper one exactly the same. In just a couple of days we've gone from not even knowing they existed to having seen three of them and owning one. Chriskay, yes it is nice to have the certificate that goes with it, it makes it special and personal to me.

There is an interesting article here with apparently shows the original dig of the Liverpool side of the tunnel which was abandoned because of a fault in the rock face, but it doesn't say where.
Anyone know where they originally planned the entrance/exit?

"The video shows a short, hidden stretch that at one point was the original path of the Liverpool side of the Queensway tunnel."

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/rare-look-unseen-tunnel-under-22487593

The fault is under the Mersey, St George's dock was still the starting point for the pilot tunnels and the re-route didn't affect the planned entrance. Most of the section from St George's dock to the Liverpool entrance was cut and cover up Dale Street.

The railway tunnel had a number of abandoned pilot sections.

Is this abandoned pilot tunnel separate from the one in use?
Do you have a link please DD.

Tried to find a reference but couldn't find one, I'm sure I've seen a diagram at some time in the past but can't recall exactly what it showed. There was a document that listed a number of abandoned tunnels under the Mersey.

If you phone up the tunnel people they are normally quite friendly.