Today, Thursday 26th February 2009 was an historic moment when the A3 tunnel project broke through on both sides of the tunnel. Ahead of schedule and accurately, invited guests witnessed the walls crumble as diggers knocked through.

Two ministers and MPs headed up the guest list. Under Secretary of State for Transport Paul Clark congratulated all involved with the project on the dedication, the safety record, the environmental care and the foresight for the future of the above ground in the formation of the Hindhead Together group. Local MP and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt chatted with other guests including the Mayor of Waverley (Cllr Len Bate), Leader Waverley Borough Council (Richard Gates), Chief Executive Waverley (Mary Orton) and other Councillors including Peter Isherwood and Deputy Mayor of Haslemere Melanie Odell.

Surrey County Council was represented by Cllr David Harmer and other organisations such as the National Trust, Balfour Beatty, Mott MacDonald, and of course, the Highways Agency (Paul Arnold and others) were present.

As no-one knew what to expect, and with the media in one tunnel and guests in the other, we waited with anticipation for the digging to start. We were all in the appropriate safety garb and were reminded to put in earplugs before the digging started. The rumbles were heard, then the tapping like a very noisy and very angry woodpecker, and then the wall started to crumble. It was impressive and as the digging went on, so the wall fell opening an arch which was occoassionally sprayed to keep the dust down.

Cheers were heard from both sides as people could eventually see each other. A fantastic feat of engineering! Well done to all involved. Returning for a well earned cup of tea, the guests listened to Stephen Tarr Managing Director of Balfour Beatty (Civil Engineering) who thanked everyone for attending and presented Paul Clark with one of the teeth from the big digger!

Here are some pictures of the event.