“The tunnel located on the Toghanali-Kalbajar-Istisu road was built under very difficult conditions,” Ayub Huseynov, engineer for projects at the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads (SAAAR) told APA.
According to him, all safety measures were taken during the construction of the tunnel.
“The Murovdag mountain range begins at the 13.5th kilometer of the highway. Thus, the most important part of the road passes through the Murovdag range. Here, the elevation increases from 1,700 meters to 3,250 meters. In order to ensure the safe operation of the highway during the winter season, the construction of a tunnel under the Murovdag range was deemed appropriate. The Murovdag tunnel is one of the longest road tunnels in the world. In terms of length, this tunnel ranks 18th in the world, 5th in Europe, and 1st among CIS countries. The tunnel will have 4 lanes, with two outgoing and two incoming. Excavation work, as well as the construction of 38 cross-passages connecting the right and left sections of the tunnel, has already been completed. Within the framework of the project, in addition to the Murovdag tunnel, four more tunnels with a total length of 2,636 meters are also being built. In these tunnels, the main construction works, including excavation, lining with concrete, and other technical operations, have mostly been completed.”
Ayub Huseynov stated that the opening of the tunnel is planned for next year.
“Within the framework of the Toghanali–Kalbajar–Istisu highway project, 87 percent of the work has been completed,” he said.
Note that on August 21, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva inspected progress of the work carried out on the Toghanali-Kalbajar-Istisu highway.
