Kanden Tunnel, road tunnel in Ōmachi, Nagano and Tateyama, Toyama, Japan
Kanden Tunnel is a 5.4 km road tunnel linking Ōmachi in Nagano Prefecture with Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture, owned by Kansai Electric Power. It has a single lane with passing places, a curved concrete and rock ceiling crossed by metal beams and overhead wires, and a maximum gradient of 106‰. General vehicles are not allowed; visitors pass through on the electric buses operated by the company.
The tunnel was dug as the Ōmachi Tunnel for the Kurobe Dam and Kurobe No. 4 Power Station. Work began from both ends and, after crossing several fault zones with heavy water inflow, broke through on 24 February 1958. Because the tunnel lies in a national park, Kansai Electric Power had to open it to the public, starting a trolleybus service between Ōgizawa and Kurobe Dam on 1 August 1964.
General traffic cannot drive through the tunnel; visitors cross it only aboard the Kanden Tunnel electric bus, which runs between Ōmachi and the Kurobe Dam. The bore is a single lane with passing places, where drivers exchange resin staff tokens through their windows. The tunnel is closed in winter.
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