Acquaintance with the Newly-Built Tunnel on the Kalbajar-Lachin Highway

On September 21, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev viewed the construction of the 2.400-meter-long entrance tunnel to the Lachin International Airport on the 35th km of the Kalbajar-Lachin highway. The Kalbajar-Lachin highway, which is 76.3 kilometers long, starts from Qamishli village in the Kalbajar district and passes through the territory of the Lachin district. The new road will provide easy access to many residential areas of these regions, as well as to the center of the region and the newly constructed Lachin International Airport.

If the existing road through mountain passes is used excessive slip zones will be encountered. In the winter season, the safe operation of the road may not be possible in weather conditions of heavy snowfall and frost. In this regard, a decision was made to bypass these mountain passes directly through the tunnels. The 11.60 meters wide tunnels will have one lane in one direction. The total length of the tunnels will be 7596.5 meters. The construction work on 5 (T1, T2, T5, T6, and T7) out of 12 car tunnels intended to be built along the road is being successfully carried out.

The length of the first tunnel (T1), built on the Kalbajar-Lachin road is 187 meters. In tunnel T2 which is 354.4 meters long, in the direction of the entrance 115.8 meters of excavation work was carried out. In tunnel T5 with a length of 448.7 meters, in the direction of the exit 331 meters of excavation work has been completed. The length of tunnel T6 is 612.4 meters. In this tunnel, a total of 537.4 meters of excavation work was carried out in both directions. Tunnel T7 is being built with a length of 2420.1 meters. In total, 532 meters of excavation work was completed in both directions of the tunnel. In these tunnels, with the use of excavation, blasting and crushing methods work on the removal of rock continues in both directions, including the entrance and exit. In other planned tunnels, the process is planned to start in stages. The T3 tunnel will be 900.2 meters, the T4 tunnel 853.7 meters, the T8 tunnel 230 meters, the T9 tunnel 700 meters, the T10 tunnel 200 meters, the T11 tunnel 320 meters, and the T12 tunnel 370 meters long.

The preparation of the subgrade foundation along the Kalbajar-Lachin highway, the formation of the slope, and construction work on laying 12 rectangular and 4 round pipes are underway. This highway connecting Kalbajar and Lachin regions is being built in accordance with the first, second, and third technical categories with 2, 3, and 4 lanes. In order to ensure the passage of water under the road in the first 38 kilometers of highway 60 round pipes with a total length of 3348 meters, as well as 9 automobile bridges with a total length of 1038 meters in the necessary places will be built.