The Liefkenshoek Tunnel was opened in July 1991. It is the third crossing of the river Escaut in Antwerp and is an essential component in the city’s ring motorway.
The Liefkenshoek Tunnel is 1.4 Km long and was designed to cope with the transport of dangerous goods and to create a direct link between the left and the right banks in the port of Antwerp. More generally it facilitates traffic between northern France and the Netherlands.
The toll system and booths for the Liefkenshoek Tunnel are amongst the most modern in Europe: there are 9 lanes in each direction, 5 for manual payment and 4 for the electronic toll collection (Teletol).
For budgetary reasons the Belgian federal government decided in the 1980’s to call upon private funding for this tunnel. A concession agreement was signed in October 1985 with the “temporary association” of three public works contractors.
Two years later, the Liefkenshoek Tunnel company was created by the three contractors and an international consortium of banks, headed by Bruxelles-Lambert SA. This new company signed the agreement for the design, construction, operation and management of the new tunnel.
In May 1995 the Flemish government bought the shares of the “temporary association”. Since then, the Liefkenshoek Tunnel company is run directly by the Flemish government.
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