Salmankaş Tunnel

The Salmankaş Tunnel (Turkish: Salmankaş Tüneli) is a road tunnel under construction located on the province border of Gümüşhane and Bayburt connecting the provincial roads P.29-26 and P.69-75 on the route from Araklı, Trabzon via Dağbaşı, Trabzon to Uğrak, Bayburt in northeastern Turkey.[1][2][3]

Salmankaş Tunnel
Salmankaş Tüneli

Overview
Location	Salmankaş Pass, Gümüşhane Province-Bayburt Province, Turkey
Coordinates	40°30′38″N 40°05′42″E
Status	Operational
Route	P.29-26 and P.69-75
Start	23 August 2012
Operation
Constructed	as-yol Yapı A.Ş.
Opened	December 20, 2019 (2019-12-20)
Owner	General Directorate of Highways
Traffic	automotive
Character	Twin-tube tunnel
Technical
Length	4,150 m (13,620 ft)

Salmankaş Tunnel

Location of Salmankaş Tunnel in Turkey

Situated on the Mount Salmankaş of Pontic Mountains, it is a 4,150 m (13,620 ft)-long twin-tube tunnel.[4] The cost of the construction, which is carried out by as-yol Yapı A.Ş.,[3][5] is estimated to be ₺170 million.[2][3][6]

It was built to bypass the Salmankaş Pass at 2,280 m (7,480 ft) elevation, which is on the ancient Silk Road,[5] with extremely steep incline and to alleviate Black Sea Region's access to Eastern Anatolia Region. The tunnel will also eliminate the six-month-long traffic inaccessibility during the winter months due to harsh climatic conditions by heavy snow fall, icing and fog. It will shorten the route about 16 km (9.9 mi) resulting in a travel time reduction from 2–3.5 hours to 1.5 hours.[2][3][6]

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in presence of Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Binali Yıldırım on 23 August 2012.[1][2][6] For the construction of the tunnel the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) is being applied.[3] The breakthrough in the tunnel was achieved on 24 November 2013.[4][7]

The tunnel was opened to traffic on December 20, 2019.[8]

References

1. "Bayburt - Araklı Salmankaş Tüneli'nin Temeli Atıldı". Bayburt Bülten (in Turkish). 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
2. "Bayburt – Araklı (Salmankaş) Tüneli için Tören Yapıldı". Araklı Haber (in Turkish). 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
3. "Salmankaş Tüneli ile hayal gerçek oluyor". Türkiye'den Haberler (in Turkish). 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
4. "Bayburt Araklı Tüneli Bitti". Bayburt Son Haber (in Turkish). 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
5. Williams, Lawrence (2013-08-01). "Cutting the Silk Road: Lawrence Williams Visits the Salmankas Tunnel Site with Tunnel Supervisor Ersin Yilmaz". Tunnels & Tunnelling International. Hifgbeam Business. Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
6. "60 yıllık hayal gerçek oluyor!". Habertürk (in Turkish). 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
7. "Salmankaş tüneli açıldı". Büyüyen Türkiye (in Turkish). 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
8. "60 yıllık hayal gerçek oldu; Salmankaş Tüneli tamamlandı". CNN Türk (in Turkish). 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-03-11.