Construction of 9 km tunnel for Georgia’s North-South road corridor underway
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. Photo: The Roads Department of Georgia
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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.
World Bank will finance the $109 million construction project for a 17-km, four-lane, access-controlled highway in the Eastern Georgia’s winemaking region of Kakheti to facilitate connection between the province and the capital Tbilisi as part of the country’s highway network.
A €1.3 million twinning project on road safety has come into effect in Georgia under the European Union (EU) assistance, the Economy Ministry announced on Thursday.
Why it is important for Georgia?
Construction of the longest tunnel in Georgia, 9-km long and 15-m in width Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel, has started today, announces the Ministry of Infrastructure. The tunnel will be carved with the tunnel boring machine which was specially made for the construction of the Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel. The Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel starts at Tskere village and ends at Kobi village, and will pass under Jvari pass. Overall, construction of 2-lane 23 km long asphalt-concrete road, five bridges and five tunnels is planned on Kvesheti-Kobi road, including renovation of one more tunnel.
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved $60 million to co-finance the construction of the 9-km long Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel, which forms part of the North-South corridor.
A complete renovation of Metekhi Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in Tbilisi, will be launched this month, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia has exceeded its plan approved by the state budget for the first quarter of 2022 by nine percent, the state body revealed on Wednesday.
The first and the fourth sections of the Samtredia-Grigoleti road in Georgia’s west, under the E60 highway, will open this year, Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze announced on Wednesday.
A 21-kilometre section of western Georgia’s Zestaponi-Kitskhi-Kharagauli highway is undergoing “complete rehabilitation,” the Georgian Roads Department announced on Tuesday.
Sections of the new Rikoti Pass road will be opened this year, with the construction of the new Rikoti Highway set to be completed in 2023, Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze said on Wednesday.
The Georgian Infrastructure Ministry on Wednesday said the China Road and Bridge Corporation, the contractor company for a road rehabilitation project in the country’s western Guria region, had been fined ₾1.7 million ($629,664) for failing to fulfil the terms of the deal in three sections of the road.
A highway bridge under construction has damaged by a swollen river in the western Imereti region of Georgia, with no injuries reported in the accident, the Roads Department said on Wednesday.
A new 1.5-km-long section has been added to the Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel - a 9-km-long and 15-metre-wide tunnel, the largest in Georgia - as part of works on the North-South Road Corridor, the Ministry of Infrastructure said on Friday.