Khojak Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
located in Killa Abdullah
Qilla Abdullah
Qilla Abdullah or Killa Abdullah or Abdullah Qilla is the name of a fort built by Sardar Abdullah Khan Achakzai....
district of Balochistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
near Pak-Afghan border at Chamman, province of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. It is located 1,945 meters above sea level.
The tunnel was constructed in 1891 under the Khojak Pass
Khojak Pass
Khojak Pass connects Qila Abdullah with Chaman in the province of Baluchistan, Pakistan.* Khojak Pass is between Quetta and Chaman...
and remains one of the longest tunnels in South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, and the longest in Pakistan. It is expected to be surpassed by the 8.6 km Lowari Tunnel
Lowari Tunnel
Lowari Tunnel is an 8.75 km long under-construction road tunnel situated in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan connecting Dir and Chitral Valley.-History:...
, currently under construction, in 2009.
It was featured on the old Rs.
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
5 banknote.
It was constructed in 3 years and it is so straight that they (still) use a mirror to reflect light at one end which is visible from the other. The legend says that the engineer building the tunnel committed suicide because both end of the tunnel did not meet on the day he calculated, later the reason was found that workers did not work one day and filled bogus logs.