Cho La Mountain Tunnel is one of the world’s highest tunnels
The Cho La Mountain Tunnel is a high mountain tunnel at an elevation of 4.378m (14,363ft) above sea level, located in the Cho La Mountains of western Sichuan Province, in China.
When was Cho La Mountain Tunnel built?
The tunnel opened to traffic on Sept 26, 2017, 15 years after the project was started, above the Que'ershan Mountain, in the Shaluli Mountains range, which stands at 6.168 meters above sea level. Built at a cost of 1.15 billion yuan (170 million U.S. dollars), it is part of the National Highway G317 that connects the city of Chengdu to the Tibetan town of Nagqu. Its length, the thin air and low temperatures at that altitude all contributed to the complexity of the construction.
How long is Cho La Mountain Tunnel?
The tunnel, also known as Que'ershan Tunnel, bores through the Cho La mountains at an altitude of 4.232m to 4.378m above sea level. The tunnel is fully paved. The two-way tunnel has a speed limit of 40 kph and takes around 10 minutes to pass through. The tunnel, which cuts through Cho La Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is 7km long with more than 5 km of auxiliary roads.
How useful was the construction of the Cho La Mountain Tunnel??
Before the tunnel was opened, drivers had to negotiate a treacherous mountain route prone to landslides, avalanches, rockfalls, blizzards and ice, climbing up the Chola Shan Pass, a mountain pass at 4.920m (16,141ft) above sea level. The tunnel greatly shortens the travel time (by 2 hours), and avoids the most dangerous section on the route. Previously vehicles spent more than two hours driving around the mountain on a road threatened by landslides, blizzards and slippery ice.
Pic: http://german.cri.cn/3105/2017/11/15/1s271643.htm