Yusufeli Dam Roads in Numbers

Adil Karaismailoğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, stated that the Yusufeli Dam Roads provide fast, comfortable and safe transportation to the district and emphasized that wide and difficult valleys are overcome with technological bridges. Pointing out that the length of all tunnels across Turkey was only 2003 kilometers in 50, Karaismailoğlu underlined that currently 56,7 kilometers of tunnels have been built around Yusufeli Dam.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu made a statement regarding the Yusufeli Dam Relocation Roads built between Artvin and Erzurum. Noting that the Yusufeli Dam, built on the Coruh River, will be opened on Tuesday, November 22, Karaismailoğlu said, “As part of the dam project, we have designed the Relocation Roads that will provide access to the new settlement of the district, as the existing campus of the Yusufeli district and a part of the highway will be under water. There are 3 tunnels with a length of 69,2 kilometers, 56,7 bridges and viaducts of 39 thousand 3 meters on the Relocation Roads, which were built in 615 sections with a total length of 19 kilometers in the standard of a single road with a bituminous hot mix coating. The project also includes a total of 5 junctions, of which 12 are at different levels and 17 are at-grade, that ensure the participation of the settlements in the region to the road.

WE BUILD 2 TECHNOLOGICAL BRIDGES WITH A LENGTH OF 188 thousand 4 meters

Karaismailoğlu pointed out that they fit the projects to be done in 100 years in 20 years, and said that this project is an example of this. Expressing that the length of all tunnels in Turkey was only 2003 kilometers in 50, Karaismailoğlu emphasized that 56,7 kilometers of tunnels are currently being built around Yusufeli Dam. Underlining that the tunnels in the project were completed within 5 years with the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), Karaismailoğlu stated that the lighting, ventilation, communication and traffic systems are also ready within the scope of the electromechanical works of the tunnels. Emphasizing that there will be a Tunnel Control Center in the new district center of Yusufeli between the T-11 and T-12 tunnels for the management of the tunnels, Karaismailoğlu continued his statement as follows:

“The wide and difficult valley crossings on the route; It will be provided by 2 technological bridges with a total length of 188 thousand 4 meters. Tekkale Viaduct was built with a 628-meter-long balanced cantilever method. The highest leg of the viaduct, which has 5 openings, reaches 144 meters. The superstructure width of the bridge is 14,5 meters. Yusufeli Viaduct, on the other hand, was designed as an orthotropic steel superstructure type using the push-and-slide method, with a length of 685 meters and 9 spans. The superstructure width of the viaduct, whose highest pillar reaches 147 meters, is 16,5 meters. We aim to open the viaduct to traffic in 2023. The length of the Şilenkar Viaduct is 530 meters. The highest leg of the viaduct, which has 4 openings, reaches 135 meters. The superstructure width of the bridge, which was built with the balanced cantilever method, is 16,5 meters. Yusufeli Dam Viaduct is 345 meters long and has 3 spans with the balanced cantilever method. The superstructure width of the viaduct, whose highest pillar reaches 72 meters, is 16,5 meters.

WE PROTECTED THE UNIQUE NATURE OF ARTVIN WITH THE PROJECT

“With Yusufeli Dam Relocation Roads, which are among the major projects of the Black Sea Region, we will make transportation fast, comfortable and safe, as well as revive the regional economy,” said Minister of Transport, Karaismailoğlu. It will directly affect many sectors from energy to urban planning, from transportation to working life. With the construction of Yusufeli Dam Relocation Roads, we established uninterrupted access to the new campus of the district. In the region with high mountains and deep valleys, we have increased the transportation standard with high-tech art structures that challenge nature. In addition, with the project, we significantly increased the standard of the north-south axis connecting Artvin to Erzurum, the Caucasus and the Black Sea coastline to Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, and contributed to increasing interregional commercial mobility. Artvin Erzurum road has become safer and more comfortable. By crossing most of the road with tunnels, bridges and viaducts, we also preserved the unique nature of Artvin with high tourism potential. Yusufeli Dam Relocation Roads; We also provided a comfortable road connection to local road networks such as Yusufeli-Sarıgöl-Öğdem and Yusufeli-İspir.”