История строительства, эксплуатации, охраны и восстановления тоннеля на перевале Саланг (Афганистан)

Abstract

The history of building, exploitation, protection and reconstruction of a unique engineering structure – the Salang tunnel has been examined in this article. At the request of the Afghan authorities in the period from 1960 to 1964 the Soviet specialists made a road on a high mountain pass and built a tunnel through the Hindu Kush ridge. The work was carried out in difficult physical and geographical conditions. The road and tunnel made it possible to connect the north and south of the country by road. During the armed conflict in Afghanistan the Soviet load on the high-mountain road and the pass increased many times. Soviet and Afghan columns moved through it in a continuous stream. Miscalculations in the operation of the tunnel led to a series of accidents. In order to eliminate them and increase the capacity of the troopsthey were faced with the need to organize a special mode of automobile traffic in the tunnel and on the approaches to it. The constant attacks of the armed opposition on the tunnel and car convoys led to the creation of a significantnumber of guard outposts, conduct combat operations, negotiations with the field commanders of the mujahidin. After the Soviet withdrawal in 1997 the tunnel was blown up. The reconstruction of the unique engineering facility in 2002 was again entrusted to specialists from Russia. The relevance of the work is connected with the fact that military operations are still being conducted in Afghanistan and the tunnel, as before, is of strategic importance. Another aspect of relevance is the possible participation of the Russian Federation in the reconstruction of the existing tunnel or in the construction of a new tunnel next to the old one. The novelty lies in the fact that for the first time the history of the tunnel is considered comprehensively, in all its manifestations: construction, operation, defense, and restoration. The objectives of the article are to study various aspects of the history of the tunnel at the Salang pass, generalize the multifaceted activities, and draw conclusions. The purpose of the article is to obtain new scientific knowledge and familiarize the readership with the history of the tunnel on the Salang pass from the creation of the project to the present day. It has been used the approved methodology peculiar to historical research. As a result of the conducted research, conclusions were obtained from the generalized experience of construction, operation, defense and restoration of the tunnel. The article may be of interest to specialists in the history of engineering, military history, and the history of international relations.