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
Khunjerab Pass Khunjerab Pass Khunjerab Pass (; ) (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan (Region of Gilgit–Baltistan’s Hunza and Nagar Districts) and on the southwest border of China (the Xinjiang region) Its name is derived from two words of the local Wakhi language : 'Khun' means Blood and 'Jerav' means a creek coming from spring water/water falling. The Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved international border crossing in the world and the highest point on the Karakoram Highway. The roadway across the pass was completed in 1982,