Mount Kop Tunnel

Mount Kop Tunnel (Turkish: Kop Dağı Tüneli) is a road tunnel under construction located on the province border of Bayburt and Erzurum as part of the route D.915 E97 between Maden, Bayburt in the northwest and Aşkale, Erzurum in the southeast in Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey.

Mount Kop Tunnel
Kop Dağı Tüneli

Overview
Location	Kop Pass, Maden, Bayburt-Aşkale, Erzurum, Turkey
Coordinates	40°02′15″N 40°29′19″E
Status	Under construction
Route	D.915 E97
Operation
Work begun	August 23, 2012
Opened	End 2015
Owner	General Directorate of Highways
Traffic	automotive
Character	Twin-tube tunnel
Technical
Length	6,500 m (21,300 ft)
Highest elevation	2,050 m (6,730 ft)

Mt. Kop Tunnel

Location of Mt. Kop Tunnel in Turkey

Situated on the Mount Kop of Pontic Mountains, it is a 6,500 m (21,300 ft)-long twin-tube tunnel.[1] The cost of the construction is estimated to be ₺319 million.[2][3]

It was built to bypass the Kop Pass at 2,409 m (7,904 ft) elevation with hairpin turns.[4] The tunnel will also eliminate the four-month-long traffic inaccessibility during the winter months due to harsh climatic conditions by heavy snow fall, icing and fog.[1][2] It will shorten the route about 6 km (3.7 mi) and reduce the travel time to one hour.[3] The tunnel is situated at 2,050 m (6,730 ft) elevation.[3][5]

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in presence of Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Binali Yıldırım on August 23, 2012.[4] Excavation works progress about 20 m (66 ft) daily in each tunnel tube.[5] Opening of the tunnel is scheduled end of 2015.[3]Currently, 150 personnel are at work.[5]

References

1. Tekin, Salih (2011-12-22). "Kop Dağı 3 bin 800 metrelik tünelle aşılacak". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-04-19.
2. Özonur, Nursima & Kerim Burucu (2012-12-21). "Kop Dağı tüneli 100 metre ilerledi". Radikal (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-04-19.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
3. Özkal, Hasan (2012-12-20). ""Kop Dağı Tüneli"nde Kazı Çalışmaları". Son dakika (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-04-19.
4. "Kop Dağı Tüneli'nin temeli törenle atıldı". Zaman (in Turkish). 2012-08-23. Archived from the original on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
5. Bozkurt, Orhan & Levent Akpınar (2012-12-21). "Kop Tüneli'nde 24 saat mesai". Erzurum Ajans (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-04-19.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)