The Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) on Monday said that technical and geological surveys and the design of the new Salang Tunnel will be finalized towards the end of next year. 

According to the MoPH, an Australian company – Smeck Consultants, is conducting technical assessments relating to the tunnel which will most likely be built alongside the existing tunnel. 

The existing Salang Tunnel is a 2.67km long tunnel located at the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, between Parwan and Baghlan provinces. 

It was completed by the Soviet Union in 1964 and has been used to connect northern Afghan cities with Kabul for decades.

The Australian company involved meanwhile started assessments ten months ago, said the ministry but added that in the meantime, repair work is being carried out on the existing tunnel. 

But road construction experts have raised doubts about whether government can afford to build a whole new tunnel, or whether it has the capacity to do so. 

“The program is not practical; to make this happen, first we need to bring some basic changes in the ministry itself; changes in the system, cadres, designing and survey capacities; I don’t think that the ministry of public works is able to implement mega projects,” said university lecturer Nazeer Ahmad Nejabi. 

The new tunnel which will be 12km long is expected to run from Olang region of southern Salang and through to Doshakh region in northern Salang. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has meanwhile pledged $19 million to cover the cost of the assessment phase and surveys.   

“Geotechnical studies are being done; and demining surveys are being finalized. Within 17 months, the basic studies of the new Salang Tunnel will be completed,” said Mahdi Rouhani, a spokesman for the MoPW. 

The total cost to build the second tunnel will run to an estimated $1 billion, ministry officials said. 

Meanwhile, motorists that use Salang Pass have said government has not even been able to repair or maintain the route over the past eighteen years. 

“Government will never manage to implement this. It has not even repaired the road, how can it build a new tunnel,” said one driver, Fareed, who uses Salang Pass. 

Another driver, Naween, meanwhile said: “We have the best vehicles, but the roads are destroyed and are full of potholes.”

MoPW has said that it will also start construction of the Dushi-Bamiyan highway which will be an alternate route to Salang Pass.