Reconstruction of the Karakoram Highway the China-Pakistan Friendship Tunnels can be traced to 2013, when China began construction on a bypass of Attabad Lake with a combination of 5 km worth of tunnels, two large bridges, and 78 small bridges to bypass the lake which had been formed after a 2010 earthquake triggered massive landslides. The resulting landslides cut off both the Indus River and Karakoram Highway resulting in the formation of the reservoir. Prior to completion of the bypass, all vehicular traffic had to be loaded onto barges to traverse the new reservoir. Construction of the tunnels began in 2012 and required 36 months
Reconstruction of the Karakoram Highway the Karakoram Highway. The long, relatively flat pass is often snow-covered during the winter season and as a consequence is generally closed for heavy vehicles from November 30 to May 1 and for all vehicles from December 30 to April 1. No additional upgrade in proposed for the Khunjerab pass section of KKH in the current reconstruction phase. Many sites on the Karakoram Highway are prone to landslides specially during the monsoon and winter months. Landslide shelters have been constructed at many points to protect the highway but still the highway often gets closed for traffic for 2-3 days due