BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 3
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Active construction of bridges and tunnels continues at the Rikoti Pass of Georgia, through which the East-West international highway passes, Trend reports via the Department of Roads of the Ministry of Regional Development of Georgia.
Currently, work is being carried out on the following sections: Chumateleti-Khevi with a length of 11.6 kilometers, Khevi-Ubisa (12.2 kilometers), Ubisa-Shorapani (13 kilometers) and Shorapani-Argvetllina (14.7 kilometers). In parallel, 62 bridges and 39 tunnels are being built. Some 6 tunnels have already been laid.
In general, it is planned to build a road of 51.6 kilometers on the Rikoti pass, which will include 96 bridges and 53 tunnels.
The new track will meet all road safety standards. The construction is planned to be completed by 2023. The cost of the project, which the Department of Roads calls the "project of the century", is about $1 billion.
After the completion of construction work, the route from the Red Bridge (border with Azerbaijan) to Sarpi (border with Turkey from the side of Adjara) is significantly reduced. If now the road takes 8 hours, then after the completion of the construction of the highway, the travel time will be reduced to 4-4.5 hours.
The road through the Rikoti Pass is part of the East-West Highway or the European Transit Road E-60. It is the second-largest European transit corridor, which starts in Brest (France) and ends in Irkeshtam (Kyrgyzstan). In Georgia, the E-60 starts at the border with Azerbaijan and ends on the Black Sea coast, near the port of Poti. On the territory of Georgia, the length of the corridor is 392 kilometers.
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