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Qabil Ashirov

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One of the important road infrastructure projects implemented in the territory of Garabagh and East Zangazur economic regions according to the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is the 82-kilometer-long Toganali-Kalbajar-Istisu highway, Azernews reports.

The project length of the highway connecting Goygol and Kalbajar districts is 56 km from Toganali-Kalbajar and 26 km from Kalbajar-Istisu. From the 13th km section of the Toganali-Kalbajar project, the Murovdag range begins, and the height increases from 1,700 m to the top of Murovdag to 3,260 m.

In this part, the construction of the Murovdag tunnel (L=23.4 km), which will be one of the longest car tunnels in the world, is underway. The tunnel will have 2 traffic lanes in one direction and will be 10 metres wide. Additionally, the construction of 4 tunnels with lengths of 561.2 m, 626.9 m, 500 m, and 947.9 m is being carried out.

A total of 7,060 metres of drilling and blasting works along the left direction of the Murovdag tunnel (Tunnel No. 3), which consists of left and right parts, the left part will be 11,713.1 metres, and the right part will be 11,691.9 metres long (total length 23,405 metres). At 160 metres, the belt concrete works have been completed, and in the right direction, a total of 7025 metres of drilling and spraying works and 1722 metres of belt concrete works have been completed. In addition, 20 connecting roads (transition tunnels) connecting the right and left parts of the Murovdag tunnel have been built, and work is being continued on the construction of new connecting roads.

Excavation, spraying, and belt concrete works have already been completed in Tunnel No. 1 with a length of 561.2 m, Tunnel No. 2 with a length of 626.9 m, and Tunnel No. 5 with a length of 947.9 m. In Tunnel No. 4, which is 500 metres long, drilling and spraying concrete works are ongoing.

According to the order of the head of state, the Toganali-Kalbajar-Istisu highway is being built according to technical grades I, II, and III with 2, 3, and 4 lanes. Thus, taking into account the rugged mountainous and rocky terrain of the project area, the construction of the main part of the road is planned according to the II technical grade, that is, with 2 lanes of traffic and an additional lane on the slopes. In the part with the Murovdag tunnel, the construction of 4 traffic lanes according to the first technical grade is underway. According to the project, the total length of the I-class road is 14.2 km, the total length of the II-class road is 34.8 km, and the total length of the III-class road is 33 km.

The construction of 6 junctions with a total length of 2,968 metres and 36 connecting roads with a total length of 5,600 metres is ongoing as well.

In the Toganali-Kalbajar section of the road, land clearing, vegetation removal, digging, and filling, as well as the construction of artificial facilities, are currently underway. 66% of the total drilling work and 69% of the filling work have been completed. The construction of the road base and the laying of asphalt-concrete coverings are being carried out in the completed sections.

On the Kalbajar-Istisu section of the road, land clearing, vegetation removal, excavation and filling works, and construction of artificial facilities are ongoing.

The construction of 159 round pipes, 110 rectangular pipes, 1 animal crossing, 19 U-type and box culverts, 2598 m of the trapezoidal channel, 64 534 m2 of Geoherm wall, 8183 m of retaining wall, and 37783 m of a stone wall (reinforcement/reference) is planned within the framework of the project.

According to the listed works, 67 round, 57 rectangular pipes, 1 animal crossing, 15 U-type and box culverts, 17,517 m of stone walls and 5,515 m of retaining walls, 1,057 m of trapezoidal channels, 49,366 m² of Geoerme walls, and 15 km of asphalt road surface have already been installed. Binder layer construction has been completed.

In general, the progress of physical work on the project is 50.5%.

It should be noted that construction works are carried out in accordance with the "Construction Norms and Rules" under the supervision of the management of the State Agency of Motorways of Azerbaijan. In order to complete the project on time according to the prepared schedule, the agency has attracted the necessary number of forces to the area.

Toğanalı-Kalbajar-Istisu highway takes its starting point from Toğanalı village of Goygol district and passes through the territory of Kalbajar district, which was freed from occupation. In this way, it will provide easy access to the district centre and the famous Istisu area, along with many residential areas of the said district.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO GARABAGH...

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