Piet Hein Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
under an inlet of the IJsselmeer
IJsselmeer
IJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It provides a road link running east-west between the city center and the A10
A10 motorway (Netherlands)
The A10 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. This motorway is the ring road around the city of Amsterdam.The motorway has a length of 32 km...
ring-road, and since May 2005 also provides a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
link between the Amsterdam Centraal railway station and Haveneiland, IJburg
IJburg
IJburg is a residential neighbourhood currently under construction in the east of Amsterdam. It is situated in the IJ Lake and is being built on artificial islands which have been raised from the lake...
. Completed in 1997, the tunnel, approaches and related buildings were designed by the hypermodernist
Hypermodernism (art)
Hypermodernism refers to a cultural, artistic, literary and architectural movement distinguished from Modernism and Postmodernism chiefly by its extreme and antithetical approach...
Dutch architectural firm Van Berkel + Bos, and was named after the Dutch naval hero Piet Hein.