Engineers working on the rehabilitation of the 2km long Salang road tunnel in Afghanistan have had to stop work for the winter months, because of the extreme weather conditions.
The construction of snow galleries, and the installation of lighting and ventilation will start in April 2003, for completion by November 2003.
The US$5M rehabilitation programme, is managed by the Norwegian consultancy Norconsult. Turkish joint venture, Cukurova/ Makimsan, is carrying out the work, and has been on site since September 2002.
The Salang tunnel is situated 3,400m above sea level and is an important strategic link between the north and the south of the country, especially as it is the only clear route during the harsh winter months. The rock tunnel is intact, since Russian engineers made it passable in February 2002. Both portals were blown up during the 1997 civil war, to prevent the Taliban advancing.
Since then, although traffic has been running, the conditions have been very bad without ventilation. “We have to avoid having queues inside the tunnel with their engines running, because we have problems with exhaust fumes,” project manager, Morten Knudsmoen, said.
