88 bridges, 51 tunnels being built to speed up travel over Rikoti Pass
The ₾2.6 billion ($859mln/€814mln) project is set to be completed by 2024 and seeks to modernise the country's road network, bringing it in line with modern standards. The Department said the works were underway on the “most difficult” geographical route and involved complex engineering structures. Photo: Roads Department of Georgia
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Construction works on 88 bridges and 51 tunnels are “actively underway” at the Rikoti Pass, a mountain section dividing Georgia into its eastern and western parts, the Roads Department announced on Tuesday.
The state body said the works were intended to speed up travel across the Pass, with an “almost doubled” traffic speed anticipated on some sections. It also revealed 16 out of 51 tunnels had already been drilled and three tunnels and six bridges were completed.
A total of 51.6 km of new roads are being built over the Rikoti Pass, with construction works divided into four sections:
- Chumateleti-Khevi 11.6 km section
- Khevi-Ubisa 12.2 km section
- Ubisa-Shorapani 13 km section
- Shorapani-Argveta 14.7 km section
The two-kilometre, two-lane Khevi-Ubisa section of the highway was opened in September last year and included six bridges and three tunnels.
Over 4,000 people are currently employed in the construction projects for the Pass, of which about 68 percent are Georgian citizens.
The ₾2.6 billion ($859mln/€814mln) project is set to be completed by 2024 and seeks to modernise the country's road network, bringing it in line with modern standards. The Department said the works were underway on the “most difficult” geographical route and involved complex engineering structures.
A 51-kilometer road connecting the two Georgian regions of Zemo Imereti and Racha has opened today, shortening the distance between the two regions by 80 km and reducing travelling time by 1.5 hours. The new road starts from the Sachkhere village and passes through seven villages. Finally the road joins the Ambrolauri-Oni road.
The first 2 km two-lane section of the Rikoti Highway, a mountain pass which divides Georgia into its eastern and western parts, has opened today, announces the Ministry of Infrastructure. Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze said that currently traffic is open on two lanes of a 2 km four-lane section, while the construction of a parallel two-lane road is underway.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the travel time from Tbilisi to Batumi will be just three hours by 2024 after the construction of 96 bridges and 53 tunnels will be completed on the Rikoti Pass. Currently the trip takes between five-six hours. Garibashvili noted that projects of such scale and complexity have not been implemented in the country.
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.
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 large-scale and technologically advanced, “unprecedented”, infrastructural projects are extremely important. Proper infrastructure is an “additional push” for the current economic growth of Georgia, the country’s infrastructure minister Irakli Karseladze said on Sunday.