BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 27. The new bridge to be constructed across the Araz river holds strategic importance and will significantly contribute to expanding economic ties and trade between Azerbaijan and Iran, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash told reporters, Trend reports.
He emphasized that the Aghband bridge will connect the two countries not only by road but also by rail.
Furthermore, the minister stated that the railway will run from Aghband (a hamlet in Azerbaijan's Zangilan district) through Iranian territory to Julfa city in Nakhchivan and will take one year to build.
According to Bazrpash, a customs checkpoint and a terminal will be built on it in compliance with the agreement with Azerbaijan.
The new bridge will also create broad opportunities for the development of transit cargo transportation, he added.
The railway bridge over the Araz river near the village of Aghband is a continuation of the Horadiz-Aghband railway line. The length of the railway line, whose foundation was laid by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on February 14, 2021, along the axis, is 110.4 kilometers.
The construction work is carried out in three stages.
The first stage covers a 30-kilometer section of the railway and the stations of Horadiz, Marjanli, and Mahmudlu; the second stage covers a 55-kilometer section of the railway and the stations of Soltanli, Gumlag, Hakari, and Minjivan; and the third stage covers a 25.4-kilometer section of the railway and the stations of Minjivan, Bartaz, and Aghband.
It is intended to construct nine stations (Horadiz, Marjanly, Mahmudlu, Soltanli, Gumlag, Hakari, Minjivan, Bartaz, and Aghband) as part of the railway project, as well as three tunnels, 41 bridges, three galleries, seven overpasses, and almost 300 artificial engineering buildings.
The construction and installation work under the railway project is scheduled to be completed in 2023.