Capra-Balea Lac is the longest tunnel of Romania

Located on the boundary of Argeș and Sibiu counties of Romania, at 884m long the Capra-Balea Lac is said to be the longest tunnel of the country.

Set high in the Făgăraș Mountains, the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, the Tunelul Capra - Balea Lac is 884m long. The road passing through the tunnel is the infamous Transfăgărăşan (DN7C National Road). It’s totally paved and closed from late October to late June, but snowfall can also occur during the rest of the year.

At an elevation of 2,025−2,042 m above the sea level, it’s also the highest tunnel of the country. Its construction began in 1972, and the mountain was drilled in the fall of 1973. More than 40,000 cubic meters of rock were excavated with the help of hundreds of people, mostly military (but, according to some sources and detainees from communist prisons), for that a year later, in 1974, the inauguration would take place during the rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu.

Connecting the old regions of Wallachia and Transylvania, the construction of the tunnel was extremely challenging in extremely difficult conditions. Workers had to face frequent avalanches that blocked the entrances to the tunnel. In 2011 it was electrically lit again. For a long time the lighting was interrupted due to irreparable damage.

 

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