Georgia builds sixth new tunnel as part of East-West international highway

14 February 2021 12:54 (UTC+04:00)

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The sixth new tunnel was built on the Ubisa-Shorapani (Shrosha village) section of Georgia at the Rikoti Pass, which is part of the East-West international highway, Trend reports via the Department of Roads of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.

The tunnel is 885 meters long. It is the longest among the tunnels already drilled in the past.

The sixth new tunnel was built on the Ubisa-Shorapani (Shrosha village) section of Georgia at the Rikoti Pass, which is part of the East-West international highway, the website of the Department of Roads of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia said.

On the Rikoti pass, in general, it is planned to build a modern road of 51.6 kilometers, which will include 96 bridges and 53 tunnels.

The construction of the main sections of the road on the Rikoti Pass is planned to be completed by 2022, and fully operational by 2023.

The new road will meet all road safety standards. The project cost is about $1 billion.

As a result, if today the road from the Red Bridge (border with Azerbaijan) to Sarpi (border with Turkey from the side of Adjara) takes 8 hours, then after the completion of the construction of the highway, the travel time will be reduced to 4-4.5 hours.

The road through the Rikoti Pass is part of the East-West Highway or the European Transit Road E-60. It is the second-largest European transit corridor, which starts in Brest (France) and ends in Irkeshtam (Kyrgyzstan). In Georgia, the E-60 starts at the border with Azerbaijan and ends on the Black Sea coast near the port of Poti. In Georgia, the length of the corridor is 392 kilometers.

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