Ruta Nacional 40
| Ruta Nacional 40 in Argentina | |
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| Basic data | |
| Operator: | Dirección Nacional de Vialidad |
| Start of the street: |
Cabo Vírgenes ( 52 ° 20 ′ S , 68 ° 21 ′ W ) |
| End of street: |
La Quiaca ( 22 ° 6 ′ S , 65 ° 36 ′ W ) |
| Overall length: | 5301 km |
Map with all coordinates: The Ruta Nacional 40 [ ˈruta nasjoˈnal kwaˈɾen̩ta ] ( Cabo Vírgenes near Río Gallegos - Ciénagas de Paicone, Jujuy Province ) is the longest national road in Argentina with 5301 km and at the same time one of the longest highways in the world; Along with the Panamericana, it is the most famous highway on the South American continent, which is why it is of great tourist importance. It crosses the entire west of Argentina with the exception of the island of Tierra del Fuego from south to north. It leads from sea level through the steppe landscape of Patagonia past the large sheep pastures of the pampas and the wine-growing region up to the high mountains of the Andes .
Despite several improvements in the last 30 years of the 20th century, some sections of the road can only be used with off-road vehicles, which makes conquering it a particular challenge for adventure tourists. Among other things, it crosses one of the highest motorable road passes in the world, the Abra el Acay (about 4950 m high) and crosses very different landscapes and climatic zones. In bad weather (heavy rain, melting snow) and in winter, some sections can quickly become impassable. That is why the road is well maintained. Construction teams are permanently on duty on all sections for improvement and maintenance. As a rule, these are graders that clear the road (sand, water, snow) and keep it level. Due to the extremely different conditions on the Ruta 40, the road is also often used as a test track by automobile manufacturers .
Course from south to north
The road crosses several large landscapes in its course: the humid West Patagonia , the Cuyo , the Sierras Pampeanas , the high valleys of the central Andes and the Puna .
The exact course of the road has been changed several times. Until 2005 it consisted administratively of two different roads, the Ruta 40 Norte and the Ruta 40 Sur . On May 20, 2005 it was agreed that the provincial roads RP 85, 70, 74, 7, 64, 65 and 5 will be included in the national road network from 2006 in order to ensure the expansion of the roads to supply the local mines. The corresponding sections of these provincial roads were thus assigned to Ruta 40. As a result, the course of the road in the province of Jujuy was shifted to the west and the total length was significantly expanded, so that now no longer La Quiaca , but the Bolivian border near the town of Ciénagas de Paicone forms the official end point of the road.
Patagonia
The road begins at the lighthouse of Cabo Vírgenes ( Cape of Virgin) on the Atlantic coast near Río Gallegos ( Santa Cruz province ). It leads first to Río Gallegos and from there parallel to the former freight train line to the west to the mining town of Río Turbio , then further north to the border to Chile at Cerro Castillo . From there it leads north-east to the Estancia Tapi Aike (junction of the RP 7 to Esperanza) and meets the RP 5 at El Cerrito, a well-developed alternative route that leads directly to Río Gallegos. Near El Calafate at Los Glaciares National Park, it crosses the Río Santa Cruz and winds northwards in a wavy line. Until the junction of the RP 23, which leads to El Chaltén to the northern part of the Los Glaciares National Park, it is of great tourist importance. We continue via Tres Lagos to Perito Moreno . About 40 km beyond this town it enters the province of Chubut , where it leads over Río Mayo , Alto Río Senguer and Gobernador Costa to Esquel .
In February 2009, the Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced that the road in the Santa Cruz province should be completely covered with a black ceiling within a few years. The work is now well advanced, so that large parts are now asphalted: From Punta Loyola to Río Gallegos (35 km) and on to Güer Aike (branch of the asphalted RP 5 towards El Calafate; 25 km), the entire section between Güer Aike and Bella Vista, the section between 28 de Noviembre and the Estancia Tapi Aike (82 km) and from there via El Cerrito (connection of the RP 5 from Río Gallegos) on the entire route to Tres Lagos, then again continuously from Lake Cardiel via Perito Moreno to the provincial border to Chubut (gravel section between Bajo Caracoles and Rio Pinturas), the rest is gravel road in changing condition. The asphalting between Tres Lagos and Lake Cardiel is under construction. There are also better alternative routes on several sections of the route (in particular the paved RP 5 from Río Gallegos towards El Calafate and the paved connection between El Cerrito and the Estancia Tapi Aike via the RP 5 and the RP 7 via Esperanza).
After Esquel, there is a short, asphalted and well-developed section of the route to the north, in Leleque the main route Ruta Nacional 258 branches off to the northwest to Bariloche . The Ruta 40 runs parallel to this road to the east as a gravel road. It is only asphalted again after the border with the Neuquén province , here it becomes a busy highway. It leads through Zapala and Chos Malal through the Voranden. At Barrancas it crosses the Río Colorado , which forms the border with the province of Mendoza . From there worse road surface (asphalt remains) to Malargüe .
Cuyo
In the western Argentine region of the Cuyo, the road is the best developed and the busiest. From south to north it first leads over a dry plateau to Malargüe , before it passes the large city of San Rafael (completely asphalted except for the section El Sosneado to Paredita ; this section is usually via the parallel and paved roads RN 144 and Bypass RN 143). She then enters the Gran Mendoza metropolitan area . There it is developed like a motorway over a length of 50 km.
The paved road then continues north through the San Juan metropolitan area . It bypasses San José de Jáchal and crosses the border to the province of La Rioja west of the Ischigualasto National Park .
Sierras Pampeanas
In the further course, which leads through the dry mountain ranges of the Sierras Pampeanas, the road is also well developed. It runs through Chilecito , a major tourist center, and crosses the border with the province of Catamarca at Salicas .
In Catamarca the road to Belén is paved. Then a poorly developed, graveled section begins to the Valle Calchaquí, a high valley of the Voranden. North of Belén, not far from the road since 1997, there is one of the largest copper mines in the world (open pit), the Bajo de la Alumbrera, in which gold is also mined.
Valle Calchaquí
In Santa María del Yocavil the road meets an important cross connection to the east, to San Miguel de Tucumán . Here it crosses the border to the province of Tucumán and continues - now paved again - further north past the ruins of Quilmes to the border to Salta .
With Cafayate , the street now crosses one of the region's tourist centers. The further course through the Valle Calchaquí is characterized by a colorful, dry landscape and small colonial towns such as Molinos and Cachi . From San Carlos to Cachi gravel road.
Abra el Acay
Behind the small town of La Poma , the road conditions deteriorate rapidly, from here the route is often only accessible with off-road vehicles and in winter usually not at all accessible. There the Valle Calchaquí ends, the ascent to Abra el Acay begins , one of the highest road passes in the world (about 4950 m high), which is not infrequently impassable due to landslides, debris flows , rockfalls or the like. At the top of the pass, the road conditions improve again, and the gravel road meanders down to San Antonio de los Cobres , the largest city in the southern Puna region despite its only 3,500 inhabitants .
Puna
At San Antonio de los Cobres the road also crosses the railway line des tren a las nubes , a tourist train that reaches an altitude of 4200 m. The road (gravel road) continues past the salt lakes Salinas Grandes and Laguna Guayatayoc in a northerly direction.
The last piece, the course of which was changed in 2006, is called Corredor Minero , as it leads past numerous mines. The unpaved road ends at the Bolivian border, not far from the town of Villazón .
literature
- Guía del viajero Route 40: de la Patagonia al norte: 5000 km de pura aventura. - 1a.ed. - Buenos Aires: La Nación, 2006. 200 pp. ( ISBN 987-23200-0-4 )
- Mágica Ruta 40: Federico B. Kirbus . - 2a.ed. - Buenos Aires: Ediciones Del Eclipse, 2006. 112 pp. ( ISBN 987-9011-54-6 )
Web links
- General information on the course and road conditions of the Ruta 40 (Spanish) ( Memento from February 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b OpenCycleMap
- ↑ Law ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. to merge Ruta 40 Sur and Ruta 40 Norte (Spanish)
- ↑ Un emprendimiento gigantesco. Diario El Popular, accessed March 14, 2009 .
