How to drive the Tunel San Rafael in La Paz

Located in the La Paz Department, in Bolivia, the San Rafael Tunnel is one of the highest tunnels in the world, at an elevation of 3.040m (9,973ft) above sea level.

Tunel San Rafael

Where is Tunel San Rafael?

It is located in the municipality of Coroico, in the Nor Yungas province within the department of La Paz.

Is Tunel San Rafael the longest tunnel in Bolivia?

The tunnel is located on the paved national highway Ruta 3. The tunnel forms part of the route that goes from La Paz through the La Cumbre pass toward the Yungas region, passing through Coroico and San Ignacio de Moxos to Trinidad. The tunnel has a length of 1,374 meters, which makes it the longest tunnel in Bolivia.

When was Tunel San Rafael built?

It was built between 2001 and 2004 as part of the realignment of Ruta 3, which, like the Camino a los Yungas, was considered for a long time one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Between Cotapata and Coroico, the construction of the San Rafael Tunnel allowed Ruta 3 to have a completely new alignment in this section between 2001 and 2006, leaving the first 80 km to Coroico completely paved. The tunnel has two lanes, each 3.5 m wide, along with emergency sidewalks of one meter wide on each side. The investment for the tunnel was 27.3 million USD, and its construction was carried out by the Andrade Gutiérrez-COPESA-Minerva consortium.

 

 

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