Work started with construction by hand of an 8ft high pilot tunnel through sandstone under the River Mersey. It took about a year to complete. However conditions were very different to Pakistan and water mixed with grit to cause the Mersey Mole to break down mid-river.
The Wallasey Tunnel was officially opened by the Queen on 24 June On Sunday 27th there was a charity walk through the tunnel, and it was really opened to traffic from midnight on 27th. About the same time, the Tunnel toll was raised from 10p to 15p. The Tunnels were now making substantial losses. There were various reasons:- the cost of the new Tunnel, the fact that construction cost was far higher than expected, traffic stopped growing either due to the increase in Tolls and or the state of the economy.
Some limited power to add these losses to debt was obtained in a Act, but these powers were to run out in at the latest. Adding the losses to debts further increased future losses. Unsuccessful attempts were made to get financial aid from central government. Tolls were increased again to 20p in , 25p in , and 30p in In Merseyside County Council had an Act which was mainly consolidating various old acts that applied within their area. They took the opportunity to have the powers to add losses to debt, extended to , or such later date up to end of that the Minister might agree.
Tolls were raised again to 40p in , and 50p in Merseyside also had the provision for Tolls changed so that when all the debt was paid off, the Tolls would not stop, instead they would be reduced to an amount sufficient to cover maintenance costs. There was some falling off in use due to all these increases but total Toll income increased substantially over all these years. Despite this increase in total Toll income the annual rate of losses actually increased, mainly due to high inflation and high interest rates.
Eventually the powers to add losses to debt ran out, and they had to be met from the Rates. This was the situation between October and March The combination of these further substantial Toll increases plus the 3 and a half year breathing space meant that losses had now stopped altogether.
The use of the Tunnels has crept up slightly in recent years, but is still far below that forecast when the Wallasey Tunnel was built..
Sources for the above are: - Archives kept in Liverpool Central Library. They are a detailed historical view of various engineering feats. The site includes a copy of an article on the construction of the Mersey Tunnel from Birkenhead to Liverpool. It has a lot of detailed information and many pictures. This is a fascinating account of all the Liverpool tunnels, including the Mole of Edge Hill, the many rail tunnels etc. They are in Birkenhead and Liverpool central libraries, and some branch libraries.
It was not used as a source and therefore complements what is on this page. If there are any experts out there who can suggest corrections or improvements to this History of the Tunnels, then please contact us via the Home Page.
It appeared in the second edition published in March You can get a bigger version by clicking here:- WOWE picture. Lights, camera — action! Fleeing Voldemort and his Death Eaters, they take a detour through the Mersey tunnel narrowly missing the oncoming traffic. Southport News. Advertise with The Guide.
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