The Paso Internacional Los Libertadores, also called Cristo Redentor, is a mountain pass in the Andes between Argentina and Chile. It is the main transport route between Chile's Valparaíso Region and Mendoza Province in Argentina.
Geography From the Argentine side the route to the pass is a slow, gentle incline until entering a tunnel at approximately elevation. On the Chilean side the slope has a far steeper grade, and the road descends down a long series of switchbacks to lower elevations.
History Opened in 1980, the Tunnel of Christ the Redeemer (Spanish: Túnel Cristo Redentor) is long and serves as an important land crossing between Chile and Argentina. At the middle of the tunnel is the national border, which is the termini of Chile Route 60 and Argentina Route 7. The path can be closed during winter because of heavy snows blocking both ends and the threat of rockfall.
Its name comes from the four-ton Christ the Redeemer of the Andes (Cristo Redentor de los Andes) statue placed in 1904 near the Uspallata Pass at an elevation of . The pass was the highest point of the road before the opening of the tunnel lowered the maximum elevation by , eliminated 65 switchbacks, and shortened the route by .
On 19 September 2013, nearly 15,000 Chileans got stranded on the Argentine side when the pass had to be closed for 10 hours because of freezing temperatures and between 40 and 50 centimeters of snow.
2016 border complex modernization Since the 1990s the crossing has suffered from chronic congestion, which by some estimates cost roughly US$1.5 million in lost tourism and freight-transport revenue. In February 2016 the concessionaire Nuevo Complejo Fronterizo Los Libertadores S.A., a unit of the Spanish construction group ACS, began work on a new border-control complex, with an investment of close to US$90 million. The new facilities were planned for a site roughly 300 meters from the existing complex, in the Llano La Calavera sector, on a plot of more than three hectares, and were to include some 25,000 square meters of infrastructure for vehicle inspection, a Carabineros de Chile sub-station, parking areas, restrooms, waste-disposal systems, and staff housing. Completion was originally projected for May 2019, under a twelve-year concession contract.
Alternative proposed tunnels In order to ease the dependence on the only tunnel in the area and to permit year-round crossing, two lower tunnels have been proposed. One of them is the Túnel Juan Pablo II ("John Paul II Tunnel"), which would be constructed at an altitude of between , long, to join the towns of Horcones, Argentina and Juncal, Chile.
Another proposed tunnel, named Paso Las Leñas, at an elevation of and of length, would connect El Sosneado in Argentina (near San Rafael) and Machalí, Chile.
The Aconcagua Bi-Oceanic railway is a proposal for a railway base tunnel under this pass.
See also Transandine Railway Paso Cardenal Samoré
References
External links
Official site of Cristo Redentor by Argentine National Gendarmerie Tunnels in Argentina Cristo Redentor Statue Updated state of different tunnels and crossings in Argentina Paso Las Leñas at UTN Facultad de San Rafael, Mendoza Unidad de Pasos Fronterizos, Government of Chile Gobernación de Los Andes
de:Túnel del Cristo Redentor pl:Tunel Chrystusa Zbawiciela