Saturday, December 16, 2006

Pictures of The World's Most Dangerous Roads

The first 6 photos are of the South American country, Bolivia; a country of dangerous roads. It consists of 43 miles (70 km) of dirt and rock heading north from La Paz, the world's highest capitol (altitude 12,000 feet or 3,660 m), to Coroico, a beautiful cloud forest town at the rim of the Amazon basin. Its catchy nickname is due to the 26 vehicles that fall off the road per year. About 200 people annually lose their lives here. A fatal accident every fortnight is not uncommon on the Coroico road (the July disaster brought the death toll during the previous eight months to 55 and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank declared this, the world's most dangerous road. The only road that exists to get to the Amazon from La Paz, it is carved into the sides of a canyon. It can have vertical drops for 1,600 feet and has no guardrails. Consequently, most Bolivians take the time to pray before their descent. After all, it could be their last

The last 5 are of the Guoliang Tunnel in China, these were excavated in the 1970’s. It took them five years to finish the 1,200-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. Some of the villagers even gave their lives to it. On May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic...













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