Sheikh Zayed Tunnel

After five years and more than Dh3?billion (US$1 billion) the 4.2-kilometre Salam Street tunnel finally opened to traffic at 6am today, with a new name and the promise of significantly easing traffic.

The tunnel is great, unfortunately all the surrounding roads are gridlocked, and no one knows where they are going. On my way home the police were scratching their heads how to ease the flow


Technical info
The main facilities include 24 service buildings, two control rooms and an additional room that is linked to the Abu Dhabi Centre for Traffic Management.

There are 157 CCTV cameras covering the entire tunnel; 174 video incident cameras that detect accidents, pedestrians and other incidents within 20 seconds; 408 speed control signs; 27 electronic information boards; nine traffic signals; and a system to access tunnel facilities.

Two cameras detect the height of a vehicle, alerting when a vehicle taller than the maximum allowable 5.5 metres enters. Lorries of more than 2.5 tonnes, and vehicles containing gas cylinders and other dangerous materials are banned from the tunnel, as are cyclists and pedestrians.

To ensure safety, there are 44 venting systems in the tunnel to prevent suffocation, ventilators at entrance and exit points, a fire detection and control system and a fire alarm system.

There are also 99 fire hoses every 60 metres, fire extinguishers, nine back-up power generators to supplement eight hours of electricity, an audio-public address system to direct drivers during an emergency, a sound system and telephones to contact the control room.

There are five emergency U-turns and 22 emergency exits.