The Queensway tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Mersey, between Liverpool and Birkenhead. It is 3.24 kilometres (2.01 mi) long and contains a single carriageway of four lanes, two in each direction. The tunnel is often referred to locally as the Birkenhead tunnel or old tunnel, to distinguish it from the newer Kingsway tunnel that was opened in 1971, and serves Wallasey and the M53 motorway traffic.
The tunnel was designed by consulting engineer Sir Basil Mott and the construction started in 1925. The construction was supervised by Mott in association with John Brodie, was the City Engineer of Liverpool.
Edmund Nuttall was the main contractor, more than 1.2 million tons of rock, gravel, and clay were excavated, and in 1928 the two pilot tunnels
met to within less than 25 millimetres.
It cost some £8m to construct and contains 274,300 tonnes of concrete, 83,300 tonnes of cast iron and 939km of electric cables. Much of the 1,219,000 tonnes of rock, clay and gravel excavated during the project was later used to build Otterspool Promenade to the south east.
The Grade II listed Art Deco tunnel entrance portals, toll booths and ventilation building facades were designed by architect Herbert James Rowse (1887-19630). The buildings are faced in white Portland stone. The carved Egyptian style decorations on the portals are by the sculptor Edmund Charles Thompson (1898-1961).
The Grade II listed description given by Historic England reads as follows;
"SJ 3490 NE OLD HAYMARKET L1
49/674 Entrance to 10.10.80 Mersey Tunnel
G.V. II
Entrance to tunnel, retaining walls and Lodges. 1925-34. Sir Basil Mott and J.A. Brodie with Herbert J. Rowse as architect. Portland stone. Originally an axial and sym- metrical design now obscured by subsequent alterations to the layout. Lodges in the form of triumphal arches to left and right of principal axis and retaining walls to the entrance of the tunnel which is a broad segmental arch. Retaining walls and tunnel entrance have some Art Deco ornamentation and sculpture now partly hidden. The lodges are tall and cubic with fluted buttresses and more Egyptian Art Deco ornamentation.
Listing NGR: SJ3465890726"
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The tunnel was opened on 18th July 1934 by King George V, who was accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Mary. A Monument to the Mersey Tunnel stands in Chester Street, Birkenhead, Wirral, Merseyside. (
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