Armenia, Georgia give start to construction of border bridge

YEREVAN, April 16. /ARKA/. The online meeting of the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission held today gave the start to the construction of a bridge across the border river Debed in northern Armenia.

The facility referred to as Friendship Bridge is part of the Sadakhlo-Bagratasehn checkpoint on the border between Armenia and Georgia.

The Armenian co-chair of the commission, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Kristine Galechyan, said it is very important that all international quality standards are observed in the construction of the bridge and highly appreciated the efforts of the Georgian authorities in the implementation of this project.

The projected length of the bridge is 386 m, the width of the road is 8.35 m. The total width of the flights is 11.85 m. The bridge will have external lighting and a drainage system.

The construction of the bridge is a joint Armenian-Georgian project funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the governments of Armenia and Georgia.

The contract for the design and construction of the bridge was concluded with Ariana Tunnel Dam Co. (Iran), and technical control will be carried out by the joint company Soosung Engineering Co., Ltd and Korea Consultants International Co., Ltd. (Korea).

The current bridge across the Debed River was built in the 1960s and in its present form cannot serve its purpose.

The new bridge is expected to have a more efficient and increased processing capacity, as well as providing a multi-directional road crossing for international cargo and passenger traffic. 

Located 200 km from Yerevan, Bagratashen is the main land transport corridor connecting Armenia through Georgia with the rest of the world.

The project is part of the EBRD - financed Northern Corridor Modernization Program.  -0-