Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel

Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel
Overview
Status Under Construction
Route Banihal ---- Qazigund
Operation
Work begun 2011
Traffic Automotive
Technical
Length 8.45 km (5.25 mi)
No. of lanes 4 (2 per tube)
Highest elevation 1,790 m (5,870 ft)

Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel is a 8.45 km (5.25 mi) road tunnel in the Pir Panjal range in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir connecting Banihal and Qazigund.

Status of construction

Construction of this tunnel started in 2011 along with the project to widen NH 44 (which was known as NH 1A before all the national highways were renumbered in the year 2010) to four lanes. The existing road tunnel below the Banihal pass (Jawahar tunnel), has been a bottleneck on the road due to its elevation of 2,194 m (7,198 ft) and limited traffic capacity. The new tunnel's average elevation at 1,790 m (5,870 ft) is 400 m lower than the existing Jawahar tunnel's elevation, which would make it less prone to avalanches. When completed, the tunnel would reduce the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km (10 mile).

It is a double tube tunnel consisting of two parallel tunnels - one for each direction of travel. Each tunnel is 7 m (23 ft) wide and has two lanes of road. The two tunnels are interconnected by a passage every 500 m (1,600 ft) for maintenance and emergency evacuation. The tunnel will have forced ventilation for extracting smoke and stale air and infusing fresh air. It will have state of the art monitoring and control systems for security. It is expected that vehicles will have to pay a toll to use the tunnel.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tunnels of Hope in Valley, Governance Now". Retrieved Feb 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Tunnel openings". Retrieved Mar 4, 2017.

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