The Burnley Tunnel is a tollway tunnel in Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia, which carries traffic eastbound from the West Gate Freeway to the Monash Freeway. It is part of the CityLink Tollway operated by Transurban. Running under the Yarra River and the inner suburbs of Richmond and Burnley, the tunnel provides a bypass of the central business district. History The tunnel was constructed between 1996 and 2000 by Transfield–Obayashi Corporation Joint Venture. Prior to its opening to traffic, the tunnel was opened to the public to walk through from Southbank to Burnley, on 16 December 2000. The tunnel was opened to traffic on 22 December 2000. The first known person to enter the tunnel as a paying client was Ben Johnstone during which time the whole process was played out live on 3AW. In February 2001 it was found that a wall panel was cracked with 5 litres of water per second entering the tunnel. The cause was later found to be floor sections lifting from water pressure, and modifications to correct this being approved in November 2001. Also in 2001 Transfield Obayashi Joint Venture agreed to pay Transurban $157 million in damages in an out-of-court settlement over late completion of the tunnel. Transurban launched further legal action against the Transfield Obayashi Joint Venture in 2007, after radar tests indicated the tunnel walls were thinner than that specified in the contract, possibly resulting in the tunnel not lasting for the proposed 100-year design life. Further tunnel leaks were also discovered in 2007, but were unrelated to the tunnel fire. When Transurban hands the tunnel over to the Victorian government in 2045 (state government approved an extension to the toll contract from 2034, in order to fund West Gate Tunnel), after 45 years in service, it must do so with the tunnel in the condition that it will have a 55-year operational life. 2007 fire On 23 March 2007, just before 10 am, a pile-up occurred in the tunnel involving three trucks and four cars. The crash resulted in an explosion and a subsequent fire which reached temperatures in excess of according to firefighters, and forced the evacuation of motorists from both the Burnley and nearby Domain tunnels. Three people died in the accident: Geoff Kennard, 51; Damian McDonald, an Australian cyclist who won a gold medal in the road team time trial at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada,