EBRD giving $60 million to co-finance construction of 9-km Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel
The construction will start at the end of 2019 and will be completed in 2023. Photo: The Roads Department of Georgia.
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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.
The Roads Department of Georgia reports that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already allocated $415 million for the construction of the Kvesheti-Kobi road and tunnel. The Georgian Government has contributed $83.6 million.
The road passes through difficult terrain and is characterized by heavy snowfalls in the winter period. The new road and tunnel aim to solve these existing problems.
The Roads Department of Georgia reports that uninterrupted transit movement will be possible at any time of the year.
See rendering of the Kvesheti-Kobi road project.
The tunnel will provide safer and more reliable conditions for travellers during the winter, while the new road will enable to avoid traffic flows in Kazbegi National Park and Gudauri winter resort.
The road will also improve the living conditions of inhabitants living in the gorge, who are often isolated from the outside world in the winter, allowing them to maintain constant movement, improve road safety and carrying capacity, reduce the risk of road accidents and decrease the time needed for travel.
The construction of a two-lane, 22.7 km long asphalt-concrete road, six bridges and five tunnels will start at the end of 2019 and will be completed in 2023.
The tunnel project cost is 909 million GEL ($306/€278 million) and will take four years to complete.
Chinese company China Railway 23rd Bureau Group Co will build a new 13 km-long Kvesheti-Kobi road in Georgia, announces the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has summed up the past six months of development work on Georgia’s road system, noting that the development of road infrastructure is the priority for the government.
Georgia is developing stably and it can be an example for many Asian countries, stated President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao at the press conference held on the sidelines of the 52rd ADB Annual Meeting in Fiji.
The Asian Development Bank will fund the second phase of work on water supply, sanitation and wastewater treatment systems at Georgia’s ski resort of Gudauri.
800 km of roads have been rebuilt across Georgia in 2019, which is almost four times more compared to the previous year, said Head of the Roads Department Irakli Karseladze earlier today.
Roads in western Georgia leading to the Tskhrajvari temple in Tkibuli, Imereti region and to Tobavarchkhili Lake in Samegrelo region will be reconstructed. The Ministry of Infrastructure says that the roads will be reconstructed in 14 months.
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 Georgian ministries of Infrastructure and Internal Affairs on Friday said they could not confirm media reports on the death of workers during the construction works on the Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel in Georgia’s north.
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.