This tunnel is 2.7 kilometers long. The construction of this tunnel started in 1337 and ended after 6 years in 1343. This project was started during Dawood Khan's presidency with the cooperation of the then Soviet government.
The height of this tunnel is 5 meters and its width is 6 meters. Most of the work of this project was done by Afghan army forces during the time of Colonel Muhammad Nasim Khan. The cost of building this tunnel was 636 million US dollars.
This tunnel has shortened the distance between north and south Afghanistan by 110 kilometers. This tunnel connects northern Afghanistan to southern Afghanistan. Before the construction of this tunnel, trade and transportation were carried out through the snowy mountains.
Salang tunnel is located at an altitude of 3950 meters above sea level and in the central position of the snow-covered mountains of Hindu Kush.
Ancient times, people used to travel from north to south through five difficult roads, such as Badghis, Herat, Marghab and Kunal Nkhotak, Bamian to Mazar-e-Sharif, Khanjan to North, Badakhshan to Panjshir, and Badakhshan to Nuristan. In the future, in each of these ways, tunnels are a necessity.
The idea of connecting the north to the south of Afghanistan was found after Amir Shir Ali Khan. Afghan kings ask Russia for help from British modern technology to defend their homeland.
Modern Russian equipment required a baked road. In the years 1308-1302, Amir Habib Ullah Khan wanted to connect the northern Salang with the southern Salang through Shabar road.Karain Sarek took the cost of 40,000 Ashrafi gold and Nikolai silver.
This road was built by the Afghan army under the command of engineer Birgit Abdul Ghiyath. This road was not tarred. In this sense, it could not be the answer to the needs of the people.
Especially in winter, many problems remained. The Salang tunnel was normally open to traffic until 1993. But when the situation in Afghanistan was suffocated, this tunnel was repeatedly blocked by the explosions of different groups, until the work of reviving this tunnel began after 2002 with the cooperation of the World Bank. Because the tunnels are at a final height. The way that reaches the final height. Every year, due to the effect of snow, Koch is blocked and they also have human casualties. The coldness of this place reaches minus 25-30 degrees Celsius in winter.
