Construction of 9 km tunnel for Georgia’s North-South road corridor underway

Construction is underway for the Kvesheti-Kobi road and tunnel section in Georgia’s north, with the section forming a part of the North-South corridor in the central part of the country.

The Roads Department of Georgia announced on Tuesday the section, located about 100 km to the north of capital Tbilisi, would include a 9 km-long tunnel, the longest in the section.

The road section passes through a difficult, hilly terrain, and is characterised by heavy snowfalls in the winter period. The new road and tunnel aim to solve these problems by making an uninterrupted transit movement possible at any time of the year after the completion of the project.

Photo: The Roads Department of Georgia

Currently, the works in the main tunnel are being carried out at a depth of 1,240 metres, while in the evacuation tunnel a depth of 2840 metres is reached. Additionally, construction of an access road to the tunnel continues in an “intensive mode,” the Department revealed.

Scheduled to be completed in 2024, the project includes a total of 23 km of two-lane, asphalt-concrete road, five bridges and five tunnels. One existing bridge will also be renovated within the initiative. 

The 1.2 billion GEL ($388.3mln/€353.5mln) Kvesheti-Kobi new road project is funded by the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.