Williams Way, Gibraltar

Williams Way
Entrance to Williams Way
Overview
LocationGibraltar
Coordinates36°08′36″N 5°20′27″W / 36.14333°N 5.34083°W / 36.14333; -5.34083
StatusClosed
StartCatalan Bay Road
EndSir Herbert Miles Road
Operation
Work begun1942
Constructedlimestone
OwnerGovernment of Gibraltar

Williams Way is a tunnel through the eastern part of the Rock of Gibraltar.

Description

It is one of two tunnels in Gibraltar named after Lt Col A R O Williams, of 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers. Arthur Robert Owen Williams (1905-1989) was known as "ARO". He had trained as a miner in South Africa and was in charge of tunnelling operation in Gibraltar during World War II. When he left the army he was also given an OBE.[1] Williams also gave his name to Arow Street which is a tunnel entirely inside the rock.[2]

The tunnel's entrance starts at Catalan Bay Road and exits at Sir Herbert Miles Road. It was built in 1942 to bypass a landslide which had been triggered by a large detonation of explosives during quarrying operations. The landslide completely blocked off the road to Catalan Bay Village. This tunnel also provides access to MacFarlane's Gallery and during 1944/1945 was used to provide an entrance to a fuel storage area known as Project 'C'.[3]

On 1 October 2012 a fire occurred inside the tunnel in a disused control room which took two hours to extinguish.[4]

Tunnel Exit at Catalan Bay

References

  1. ^ "ARO Williams OBE Obituary". Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: 300. September 1989.
  2. ^ Haycraft, Col. T. W. R. "THE GIBRALTAR TUNNELS p.5" (PDF). siegebattlefieldtours.com. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum, MS and; Rose, EPF (1991). The Tunnels of Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Museum. pp. 29–30.
  4. ^ Eyleen Sheil (3 October 2012). "Probe into William's Way tunnel fire". Gibraltar Chronicle. Retrieved 29 October 2012.


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