The Coentunnel (1966) is a tunnel in the
A10 motorway under the
North Sea Canal in western
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. The tunnel is named for the 17th-century colonizer
Jan Pieterszoon Coen. The tunnel itself is 1283 metres long of which 587 metres are fully covered. The tunnel connects the
Zaan district with the western part of Amsterdam. The tunnel reaches a maximum depth of 22 metres.
Before the tunnel was built, the Hem ferry and, to a lesser degree, the Schellingwouder bridge were the most important connections between Amsterdam and
Zaandam
Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam.
The statistical district Zaa ...
, and this was a serious bottleneck for traffic. In 1959 5,800 vehicles were ferried daily and waiting times reached 45 minutes or more. In the 1950s inhabitants petitioned successfully for a tunnel under the North Sea Canal.
Construction commenced in 1961 and the total cost amounted to 45 million Dutch guilders. The opening of the tunnel was inaugurated on 21 June 1966 by
Queen Juliana.
In 2007, more than 100,000 vehicles passed through the tunnel daily, again ensuring traffic congestion. The
Second Coen Tunnel
The Second Coen Tunnel is a tunnel under the North Sea Canal, next to the Coen Tunnel in Amsterdam. The tunnel was built in combination with a new highway connection, the Westrandweg, to the A5 motorway. The tunnel consists of 3 fixed lanes and t ...
has been procured under a
public-private partnership structure, and construction started in the summer of 2009. On 13 May 2013, the new tubes opened for traffic and the old tubes were closed for extensive renovation. It is expected that all four tubes will be available for traffic by mid-2014.
References
External links
{{commonscat, Coentunnel
Road tunnels in the Netherlands
Tunnels completed in 1966
Immersed tube tunnels in the Netherlands
Tunnels in Amsterdam