Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 9 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The Masalli-Astara road being laid under the North-South transport corridor will be laid up to the border with Iran, with a displacement of 10 kilometers, the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry reported.
The displacement is provided to ensure passage of the road bypassing the Masalli city.
"Accordingly, relevant construction work was carried out by the Iranian side for connection to a new road," the source said.
Construction work on the Masalli-Astara road is carried out under the loan allocated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The plan to repurchase land along the highway is under modernization. In addition, contractor must be chosen for the second and third sections of the road.
ADB will allocate an additional $ 200 million for the project implementation. The ADB Board of Directors is expected to approve this loan on Sept. 28, 2011.
Azerinshaatservis Construction Company is chosen to construct the first stretch of 22.15 km
The bank has already allocated $ 200 million for the reconstruction of the Masalli-Astara road, while the share of the Azerbaijani government was $49 million.
Due to the rise in the prices of the project, the consultant made the necessary changes in the cost estimate, which was prepared in 2008. Price for building materials also increased since that time. After the re-evaluation, the project cost exceeds $ 400 million.
THE North-South Corridor will transport goods through the territory of India to Northern and Eastern Europe via road, rail and sea transport.
The volume of freight traffic along the corridor could be up to 15-20 million tons per year.