Executive Director of the "Road Department" Foundation Gor Avetisyan, Deputy Director Karen Badalyan, other representatives of the Foundation met with the officials of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). This is reported by the foundation.
The parties discussed issues related to the construction of the second bridge over the Araks River between Armenia and Iran. It should be noted that the first bridge over the Araks River between the Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia was commissioned in 1996 in the Meghri border crossing. The length of the existing bridge is 192 m.
Before the operation of the bridge, the transportation of goods and passengers between the two countries was carried out by means of a floating bridge. According to the latest research carried out by Iranian experts on the volume of passenger and cargo transportation at the Meghri border crossing, the total number of vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023 has increased significantly compared to the same period last year.
Taking into account the increase in the number of cars crossing the RA-IRI border, as well as the rapid pace of passenger traffic and freight traffic predicted as a result of the construction and modernization of the Agarak-Kajaran road section, the need to build a second bridge between Armenia and Iran has arisen.
During the meeting, the representatives of Armenia and Iran discussed the issue of creating a working group in order to develop the plan for the construction of the bridge. The Armenian side has sent the proposed list of Armenian specialists to be included in the working group. The working group to be created will discuss and develop the concept of the construction of the bridge.