START PAGE | HOMEPAGE | NEWS | SPORT | WEATHER | FACEBOOK | XING | LINKEDIN | VIDEO CHANNEL | PHOTO GALLERY | CONTACT | SEARCH |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A Walk Under The 4th Motorway Tunnel Through the Tunnel. Sunday, 27th October 2002 Sadly the whole occasion was somewhat disorganised from beginning to end, but it was well worth the effort of walking 3.1 kilometres there, and the same back, through the tunnel before the fourth tunnel was opened to traffic For those that missed it, we have taken some photos for you. Many people found the walk worthwhile and the building authorities enjoyed telling everybody what a great success it was. Reports in some local newspapers mentioned the organisation, or lack of it Many more people turned up than planned, which took the authorities in charge totally by suprise. 100 000 walkers were expected, but we estimate it was at least 3 times that amount. Many people turned up thinking they were going to walk through and catch a shuttle bus back, or ferry across the river - no such luck. On the other side of the river, ferry waiting times were 2 and a half to 3 hours and nobody had thought about organising buses. Older people were taken by suprise and some were taken to hospital. Parents lined the route with children that could not and would not go any further One lady driving an NDR estate car/station wagon almost ran a few people down by trying to drive through a packed crowd and took no notice of protests from the crowd. NDR had also set up a stage which photographers understandably used to take photos, as there was no platform set up so people could take photos above the crowd, which resulted in shouts of protest from some members of staff. NDR TV and Radio were there in force and had the cameras running when the weather allowed There were not enough buses laid on and where the bus stops had been set up there was thick mud and almost no pavement/sidewalk. We ended up splattered with mud up to the knees There was a similar walk-through, when the original three tunnels were opened, back in 1975. We spoke to many who had been through the first time and they told Hamburg English Pages that the organisation was very much better and that all points of interest were marked. At the other end of the tunnel you would have expected that there would be a drinks stand for coffee and cold drinks, plus something to eat. Well, you could buy fresh meat and pickled gherkins - somehow that seems a little odd! Somebody missed the point!
Hamburg English Pages
The Elbe
Freeway Tunnel
Nobody had thought to mark the deepest point, or the halfway point, although nearly everyone was looking for them. This man was organised. He had written directions on two bananas - 'middle this way' and 'this way out' - don't tell us Germans lack humour!
Photos from Othmarschen and back. Altona Hospital in the background
Click for external website photo | Cross section view - external website
Top
Top
Top
Top
Top
Some people walked illegally along the motorway, some with small children, to get to the other end, even though it was fenced off
Top
and back...
Top
Windy! Hurricane arrived 30 minutes later
Top
Below: A great finish - everything grinds to a halt. No way out and it starts to rain again. Due to the parked vehicles and bad organisation, nobody can get in or out due to the mass of people and the bottleneck. The police start to use loudspeakers to tell people to move on, but forget to say where. Better luck next time! Let's hope the building authorities are better at building tunnels than organising events... and now hundreds of people standing in the mud at the bus stop and 2 buses in sight... OK let's walk home!
The calm before the storm. 20 minutes after this photo was taken, a force 10 to 12 hurricane hit Hamburg, causing deaths, flooding, structural damage and also uprooted trees. The fire brigade worked through the night
Top
2011: 9 years later and the problems the 4th tunnel should have solved, are just as bad. Traffic jams and tunnel closures, almost every day. The work on the tunnels is scheduled to continue for at least 2 years. If the motorway on the Hamburg side of the tunnel is covered over, as planned, the misery could carry on for a further 10 years!
Contact Page
Top