Rikoti Pass slope collapse caused by landslide - Roads Department
Responding to social media reports on the collapse on Monday, the body said the incident had occurred on the kilometre 10 section of the Ubisa-Shorapani road of the East-West Highway. Photo: My City Kills Facebook page
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The Roads Department of Georgia on Tuesday said a slope of the Rikoti Pass dividing Georgia into its eastern and western parts had collapsed on Monday due to a landslide prior to reinforcement works planned on the section.
Responding to social media reports on the collapse on Monday, the body said the incident had occurred on the kilometre 10 section of the Ubisa-Shorapani road of the East-West Highway.
Photo: My City Kills Facebook page
Works at the location had envisaged a “complex strengthening of the slope”, however a “recent abundant rainfall” caused a landslide before the reinforcement works commenced, disintegrating a temporarily set up surface on the slope and damaging an outer concrete section, it added.
The Department said professionals of the contractor company were working to clear the slope before resuming works on the road section.
Infrastructure damaged by heavy precipitation and floods in the north-western Georgia’s Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in January will be repaired in an effort involving a budget of ₾130,000 ($49,913), the office of the regional State Representative said on Thursday.
Traffic on the Rikoti Pass crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia has been restored after professionals cleared roads following heavy snowfall, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
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.
Heavy snowfall caused traffic restrictions on several roads of domestic and international importance in western part of Georgia on Thursday.
One person died and four, including a minor, were injured on Tuesday evening as strong winds uprooted trees, downed power lines and caused property damage in western Georgia.
Rikoti Pass, a crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, will be closed between Thursday and Friday to all types of vehicles due to a risk of landslide, the Roads Department of Georgia said on Thursday.
Giorgi Tsereteli, the Chairman of the Roads Department of Georgia, on Friday said Rikoti Pass, a major crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, was closed to all types of vehicles due to a risk of a landslide, and added its professionals were working to restore traffic “as soon as possible”.
Vehicle traffic on Rikoti Pass, a major crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, was restored on Saturday under a “special regime”, with the recommendation of specialists, the Roads Department of Georgia said.
Construction of the new Rikoti Highway is set to be completed this year, the Roads Department of Georgia said on Monday while rejecting media reports that suggested the work had been delayed from its original deadline of 2022.
The Roads Department of Georgia on Saturday said during the ongoing works on the 107th kilometre of the Kutaisi (Choma)-Alpana-Mamisoni and Sachkhere-Oni passes, the small mass of land had collapsed.