Kırkgeçit Tunnels

Kırkgeçit Tunnels (Turkish: Kırkgeçit Tünelleri, literally "Forty-Passes tunnels") are a series of seven motorway tunnels crossing the Taurus Mountains on the province border of Niğde and Adana, Turkey.

Kırkgeçit Tunnels
Kırkgeçit Tünelleri
Kırkgeçit-6 Tunnel in on the Motorway O-21.
Overview
LocationKemerhisar, Niğde-Pozantı, Adana
Coordinates37°34′58″N 34°45′00″E
Kırkgeçit Tunnels
Location of Kırkgeçit Tunnels in Turkey.
Route O-21 E90
Operation
OpenedMarch 12, 2009 (2009-03-12)
OperatorGeneral Directorate of Highways
Trafficautomotive
Technical
No. of lanes2 x 3
Operating speed80 km/h (50 mph)

The tunnels are located on the Ankara-Tarsus motorway O-21 E90 between Kemerhisar and Pozantı connecting the Central Anatolia Region with the Mediterranean Region. Five of the tunnels in the north are in Niğde Province while the remaining two are situated in Adana Province. All the seven tunnels are twin bores and carry three lanes of traffic in each direction. 16 viaducts named Kırkgeçit Viaducts connect the tunnels in series. Dangerous goods carriers are not permitted to use the tunnels.[1] The Çakıt Tunnel follows the Kırkgeçit-7 Tunnel in direction Pozantı.

The tunnels were constructed as part of the motorway O-21 and were opened to traffic on March 12, 2009. The tunnels allow the travel time of the passage through the mountainous terrain drop from one-and-half hours before to 20 minutes. A saving of ₺110 million annually is calculated for the national economy. The tunnels enable a through-traffic on motorways from the Bulgarian border Kapıkule to the border crossings to Syria and Iraq.[2]

Tunnel Motorway Length (bore #1-bore #2) Province
Kırkgeçit-1 O-21 E90941–958 m (3,087–3,143 ft)Niğde
Kırkgeçit-2584–548 m (1,916–1,798 ft)
Kırkgeçit-3255–286 m (837–938 ft)
Kırkgeçit-4630–439 m (2,067–1,440 ft)
Kırkgeçit-5651–652 m (2,136–2,139 ft)
Kırkgeçit-6855–816 m (2,805–2,677 ft)Adana
Kırkgeçit-7534–526 m (1,752–1,726 ft)

See also

References
  1. "Tehlikeli Maddelerin Taşınmasına İzin Verilmeyen Otoyol Tünelleri" (PDF) (in Turkish). Karayolları Genel Müdürlüğü. Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  2. Kaya, Çilem (2009-03-12). "Toroslar'dan geçiş 20 dakikaya iniyor". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-09-06.


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