Reconstructed Rikoti Pass to faster connect East and West Georgia
Shorapani-Argveta section is a 14.7-kilometre section which will be constructed by funding from the Asian Development Bank. The bank has allocated 582.8 million GEL $201.96 mln/€181.34 mln) for the project. Photo: imedinews.ge.
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The Roads Department of Georgia has signed an agreement for the reconstruction of the fourth section of the Rikoti Pass – a mountain pass which divides Georgia into its eastern and western parts – with Guizhou Highway Engineering Group and China National Technical Import and Export Corporation, announced the department earlier today.
Shorapani-Argveta section is a 14.7-kilometre section which will be reconstructed by funding from the Asian Development Bank. The bank has allocated 582.8 million GEL $201.96 mln/€181.34 mln) for the project.
The construction of four roads, 14 bridges and 12 tunnels is planned.
The construction work will take place over three years. Photo: Ministry of Infrastructure.
The 14.7-kilometre Shorapani-Argveta section will make it easier for transport to move along the mountainous parts of the road, in ravines and on rivers,” reads the announcement of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The ministry says that more than 5,000 people will be employed in the reconstruction work of the Rikoti Pass overall.
The Rikoti Pass will decrease the distance between East and West Georgia by 30 kilometres.
The traveling time will be halved between the Red Bridge (a crossing point between Georgia and Azerbaijan on the Tbilisi-Ganja road) and Sarpi (in the south-west of Georgia, on the border with Turkey) which will become 4/4.5 hours instead of eight hours.
The main tunnel connecting the country’s east and west will be closed for the next five days to undergo routine maintenance. Traffic will be restricted for all types of vehicles from 8 a.m on June 3 to 8 a.m. on June 7.
Georgian Finance Minister and vice-president of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have signed a $343 million agreement today to help Georgia develop its major transport artery, the East-West Highway.
Georgia is continuing to upgrade and modernise its main transport arteries in a bid to ensure roads meet international standards.
The main tunnel connecting the country’s east and west will be closed for the next two nights to undergo routine maintenance.
The modernisation of Rikoti Pass continues to more efficiently connect East and West Georgia. As part of the project two new tunnels have been carved on the Khevi-Ubisa section, near the villages of Ubisa and Gantiadi.
Ongoing work on a highway of "crucial" importance, set to connect Georgia's capital Tbilisi with the Black Sea city of Batumi, will be completed soon, prime minister Giorgi Gakharia told reporters on Saturday.
Infrastructure Minister Maia Tskitishvili has presented the annual 2020 for 2020 and discussed the activities the Georgian Ministry of Infrastructure carried out this year.
Georgian Infrastructure Minister Maia Tskitishvili has presented new projects today that will be implemented in Georgia this year. The new projects are mainly related to the renovation of schools and roads in Georgia.
The first 2.5 km two-lane section of the Rikoti Highway, a mountain pass which divides Georgia into its eastern and western parts, will open this fall, announces Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze. He said that 70-80% of the Rikoti Pass project is in the active construction phase.