Mount Ovit Tunnel
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | İkizdere, Rize Province - İspir, Erzurum Province |
| Coordinates |
40°37′28″N 40°49′26″E / 40.62438°N 40.82382°ECoordinates: 40°37′28″N 40°49′26″E / 40.62438°N 40.82382°E   Mt. Ovit Tunnel Location of Mount Ovit Tunnel in Turkey. |
| Status | Under construction |
| Route | D-925 |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 2012 |
| Opened | late 2017 (est.) |
| Owner | General Directorate of Highways |
| Traffic | automotive |
| Technical | |
| Length | 14,000 m (46,000 ft) |
Mount Ovit Tunnel (Turkish: Ovit Dağı Tüneli), is a highway tunnel under construction at Mount Ovit between İkizdere, Rize Province and İspir, Erzurum Province in northeastern Turkey. With its length of 14,000 m (46,000 ft) (including 1,369 m cut and cover avalanche tunnel) in twin tubes, it will be the country's second longest tunnel after New Mount Zigana Tunnel.[1][2][3][4][5]
The tunnel was projected to connect Erzurum with Rize in order to enable Eastern Anatolian's access to the Black Sea. The first gateaway project dates back to 1880 during the Ottoman Empire times, without going into realization. In 1930, a highway was built with a workforce of 1,500 people who connected İspir with İkizdere, passing over Mount Ovit, which is 2,640 m (8,660 ft) high.[6] The current route D-925, however, it was built to bypass the Ovit Pass at 2,640 m (8,660 ft) elevation.
The construction works of Mount Ovit Tunnel and its connection roads started with a groundbreaking ceremony held on May 12, 2012 in presence of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[1] It was planned that the tunnel would be opened to traffic in 2015,[1] but later the opening date was set to 2017.[7] After completion, Mount Ovit Tunnel is expected to become the world's 7th longest highway tunnel.
References
- 1 2 3 "Ovit Tüneli'nin temeli atıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ↑ "Ovit Tüneli'nde çalışmalar durduruldu". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
- ↑ "Yeni Zigana Tüneli İnşaatı Devam Ediyor". Haberler (in Turkish). 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Kerim Tütüncü - Ovit Tüneli Şantiye Şefi ile Röportaj". Haber Teknik Dergisi Sayı 3 (in Turkish). May 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Ovit Tüneli'nde son 400 metre". TRT Haber (in Turkish). 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Ovit Tüneli'nde son bir kilometre". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Ovit tunnel project nears completion". Daily Sabah. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
