{"id":9002,"date":"2018-10-22T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-21T18:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/?p=9002"},"modified":"2020-01-21T07:31:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T18:31:22","slug":"what-is-a-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a tunnel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How long is a tunnel?<\/h2>\n

How long does a tunnel need to be before it’s called a tunnel? For example, when you go under a bridge, is it just a short tunnel? What if the bridge is only a metre wide? What if it is under a motorway that’s eight lanes wide? What about something like the Awakino tunnel<\/a> on SH3 between Awakino and Mahoenui?<\/p>\n

\"\"

Awakino tunnel<\/p><\/div>\n

Any stretch of road that is substantially enclosed can be called a road tunnel\u00a0but in road planning it’s not considered a tunnel unless it’s at least 80 metres\u00a0long. If it’s between 80-120m it is termed a short tunnel or could be called an underpass. A long tunnel is when it’s more than 120m long. This is defined in\u00a0AS 4825:2011 which deals with fire safety among other things. However, in Europe, a long tunnel is 300-500m and if you drive over there then you will find some countries have a great many long tunnels, as well as tunnels that are very long such as the\u00a0L\u00e6rdal Tunnel in Norway<\/a> which is over 24km.<\/p>\n

Contributing factors to whether a tunnel is considered short or long are the risks involved in passing through the tunnel. For example, a tunnel could be physically short but still considered to be long if it hindered emergency operations, such as not having emergency exits.<\/p>\n

In many countries, avalanche tunnels are common on mountain roads. One side of the tunnel typically has windows or openings while the roof provides protection from any avalanches.<\/p>\n

\"\"

This tunnel is open on one side, not unlike an avalanche tunnel<\/p><\/div>\n

Tunnel vs cutting<\/h2>\n

If a tunnel doesn’t have a roof, it’s not a tunnel, it’s a cutting. Some tunnels might be formed by ‘cut and cover’ which is where a cutting is made first and then the tunnel roof added.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the length of a tunnel, you need to know how to drive safely in a tunnel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How long is a tunnel? How long does a tunnel need to be before it’s called a tunnel? For example, when you go under a bridge, is it just a short tunnel? What if the bridge is only a metre…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How long is a tunnel? How long does a tunnel need to be before it’s called a tunnel? For example, when you go under a bridge, is it just a short tunnel? What if the bridge is only a metre…Read more ›\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1612\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"897\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darren Cottingham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darren Cottingham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darren Cottingham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64c053b1d745d9548919d7dfec618f23\"},\"headline\":\"What is a tunnel?\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":353,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/\",\"name\":\"What is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg\",\"width\":1612,\"height\":897,\"caption\":\"Awakino tunnel\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/what-is-a-tunnel\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is a tunnel?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/\",\"name\":\"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\",\"description\":\"Resources for drivers, machine operators and other employees taking online and blended courses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/cropped-Logo-DT-800px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/cropped-Logo-DT-800px.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64c053b1d745d9548919d7dfec618f23\",\"name\":\"Darren Cottingham\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Darren Cottingham\"},\"description\":\"Darren has written over 3000 articles about driving and vehicles, plus almost 500 vehicle reviews and numerous driving courses. Connect with him on LinkedIn by clicking the name above\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/darrencottingham\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\\\/resources\\\/author\\\/darren\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","og_description":"How long is a tunnel? How long does a tunnel need to be before it’s called a tunnel? For example, when you go under a bridge, is it just a short tunnel? What if the bridge is only a metre…Read more ›","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/","og_site_name":"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","article_published_time":"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1612,"height":897,"url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darren Cottingham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darren Cottingham","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/"},"author":{"name":"Darren Cottingham","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/64c053b1d745d9548919d7dfec618f23"},"headline":"What is a tunnel?","datePublished":"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/"},"wordCount":353,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg","articleSection":["Advice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/","name":"What is a tunnel? - DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-21T18:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-20T18:31:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Awakino-tunnel.jpg","width":1612,"height":897,"caption":"Awakino tunnel"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/what-is-a-tunnel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is a tunnel?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/","name":"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","description":"Resources for drivers, machine operators and other employees taking online and blended courses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#organization","name":"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources","url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/cropped-Logo-DT-800px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/cropped-Logo-DT-800px.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"DT Vehicle and Workplace Training Resources"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/64c053b1d745d9548919d7dfec618f23","name":"Darren Cottingham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/87ccaaf5d8ab791058c89e0b1f61c1a4c18d0928aa5463ffebdec4e01f5ff046?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Darren Cottingham"},"description":"Darren has written over 3000 articles about driving and vehicles, plus almost 500 vehicle reviews and numerous driving courses. Connect with him on LinkedIn by clicking the name above","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/darrencottingham\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/author\/darren\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9002"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21851,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9002\/revisions\/21851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}