Guidance

ADR tunnel categories

Published 1 January 2010

ADR tunnel categories from 1 January 2010

Tunnel categories in this table indicate the restrictions which apply to 9 tunnels in Great Britain. They relate to the types of dangerous goods which you can transport through them.

Tunnel Category
Blackwall E
Clyde D
Dartford C
East India Dock Road E
Heathrow Airport Category E between 0400 and 2300

Category C all other times
Limehouse E
Mersey D
Rotherhithe E
Tyne D

Understanding ADR tunnel categories

Within ADR, tunnels are assigned a category from A to E to control the transport of dangerous goods through them.

Tunnels marked as Category A are considered to be low risk, which means there are no restrictions when transporting dangerous goods through them.

Category E marked tunnels are considered to be high risk, which means very few dangerous goods are allowed to be transported through them.

The table below displays each tunnel code and whether they are restrictive or not.

Tunnel category Risk level Restrictions
A Low risk No restrictions
B Limited risk Few restrictions
C Medium risk Some restrictions
D High risk Many restrictions occur
E Very high risk Restricted tunnel

For more information about transporting dangerous goods through different categories of tunnels, see The European agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road.