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Cape Town - Ventilation in the Western Cape's Huguenot tunnel cannot be upgraded unless the proposed N1/N2 Cape Winelands Highway Project goes ahead, the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) said on Tuesday.
"The tunnel is a major component... that's our biggest struggle at the moment, because our concern about safety comes first," project engineer Tiago Massingue told Sapa.
"We cannot operate a tunnel if we feel it's unsafe."
He was speaking on the sidelines of a Sanral briefing in Bellville.
The proposed N1/N2 Cape Winelands Highway Project envisaged the introduction of traditional toll booths to some 180km of provincial roads, as well as upgrades to tunnels, bridges, pavements and interchanges.
Last May, the Western Cape High Court granted the City of Cape Town an interim interdict preventing Sanral from implementing or advancing the toll project, including the conclusion of any contract or commencement of construction.
The interim relief was granted pending the court's review of Sanral's decision to implement the toll project. The review date has yet to be determined.
Sanral regional manager Kobus van der Walt said the Huguenot Tunnel and road needed to be upgraded, because it was not designed for the amount of heavy vehicles it was carrying.
The toll tunnel on the N1 goes through the Du Toitskloof mountains and connects Paarl and Worcester.
"If we have got an accident and a head-on collision in the tunnel and a fire, we sit with a major problem there because of the fire regulation nowadays," he said.
In Europe, a tunnel had to withstand a 100 megawatt fire.
"Our tunnel can only carry a 30MW fire. That is basically a car that burns. But as soon as a tanker burns, we're talking about a 100MW, 200MW fire," he said.
"The big problem is not so much the fire, it's the smoke. We need to upgrade the ventilation system in the tunnel."
Sanral's main plan was to open a second tunnel to allow for two separate passages carrying traffic flowing in opposite directions.
