Georgia: The Roads Department on Tuesday announced that construction works on 88 bridges, as well as 51 tunnels, are underway at the Rikoti Pass, a mountain section dividing Georgia into its eastern and western parts.
The government body stated that the works which are ongoing are intended to speed up travel across the Pass, with a “nearly doubled” traffic speed anticipated in some areas. It also disclosed that 16 of the 51 tunnels had already been drilled, as well as three tunnels and six bridges were completed.
A total of 51.6 km of new highways are being constructed 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 area of the highway was opened last year in September and included six flyovers and three underpasses.
More than 4,000 individuals are now employed in the construction projects for the Pass, of which approximately 68 % are citizens of Georgia.
The GEL 2.6 billion ($859 million/€814 million) initiative aims to modernise the country’s road network and bring it up to current standards by 2024. Work on the “most challenging” geographical route was ongoing, according to the Department, and entailed complicated engineering buildings.
The Georgian government is working intensively in all sectors to modernize the infrastructure in order to provide an ease to ordinary people.