Georgia : East–West Highway (Shorapani–Argveta Section) Improvement Project

Project Name

East–West Highway (Shorapani–Argveta Section) Improvement Project

Project Number

53178-001

Country / Economy

• Georgia

Project Status

Active

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Loan

Source of Funding / Amount

Loan 3861-GEO: East-West Highway (Shorapani-Argveta Section) Improvement Project

Source	Amount
Ordinary capital resources	US$ 278.00 million

Operational Priorities

• OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
• OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
• OP3: Tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing environmental sustainability
• OP6: Strengthening governance and institutional capacity
• OP7: Fostering regional cooperation and integration

Sector / Subsector

• Transport / Road transport (non-urban)

Gender

Effective gender mainstreaming

Description

The Project involves construction of a new road section of the E-60 highway located in Imereti Region of central Georgia. Section F4 forms the Shoropani-Argveta portion of the Khevi-Ubisa-Shorapani-Argveta section of the E-60.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

The loan aims to implement the Road Corridors Development Program to rehabilitate, improve or construct several roads in various regions of Georgia.

The Government of Georgia is endeavoring to make Georgia a regional and logistics hub and more attractive for businesses. The East West Highway (EWH), stretching 410 km from Sarpi on the Black Sea, at the border with Turkey, through the center of the country to the capital Tbilisi and on to the border with Azerbaijan, is the main inter-regional and international route between western and eastern Georgia, as well as its neighboring countries. Representing about 2% of Georgia's road network and one fourth of its international roads, the EWH serves 8,000 to 10,000 vehicles per day and carries over 60% of the country's international trade. The EWH will be an integral part of one of the six key CAREC corridors providing the shortest transit link to connect Central Asia with Europe and East Asia.

In light of the traffic growth on EWH, the high percentage of truck traffic, and the difficult terrain and resulting geometric profiles, capacity expansion of the current 2-lane mountainous section between Chumateleti and Argveta is crucial to realizing full potential of the EWH with improvements to the highway either completed or underway on each side of this section.

Therefore, the Government has requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and several other development partners to finance the remaining bottleneck sections (Chumateleti-Argveta) on the EWH. A feasibility study financed under a World Bank project for the Chumateleti Argveta section (comprising four sections F1 through F4) of the EWH was completed in 2015. The detailed design of Section F1 has been completed and selection of the construction Contractor is on-going. Detailed design of sections F2, F3 and F4 is now on-going and this report forms the EIA for detailed design phase of section F4 which will be followed by sections F3 and F2.

Impact

Economic growth and regional connectivity supported (Georgia Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2020)

Infrastructure and economic connectivity cluster improved (CAREC 2030)

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

Efficiency and safety of road transport along the East-West Highway (EWH) improved

Progress Toward Outcome

As of 31 December 2023, estimated progress of executed works for the Shorapani-Argveta Section (F4) is about 79%.

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

Shorapani and Argveta section constructed

Road safety increased

Overload control implemented

PBM contract implemented

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

1. Works are ongoing on bridges, tunnels, and highways. With the current pace of progress, completion of works is expected by mid-2024.

2. Consultants for road safety awareness and entrepreneurship and livelihood development training have been recruited and activities are ongoing.

3a. All deliverables under the 38 Portable Scales contract have been completed, goods were delivered on site, and training conducted for installation and commissioning of the goods.

3b. Procurement of weigh-in-motion equipment is expected to commence in Q2 2024.

4. PBM component is proposed to be cancelled as the government considers it pre-mature to implement at the present time.

Geographical Location

Argveta, Shorapani

Safeguard Categories

Environment

A

Involuntary Resettlement

A

Indigenous Peoples

C

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

The project has been classified as environment category A. The draft environmental impact assessment (EIA) was disclosed on 28 May 2019. This draft was submitted and reviewed by ADB and all key elements required for disclosure were present including the use of IFC standards for noise modelling in line with ADB's SPS 2009. The project will have significant adverse impacts that are irreversible and diverse. The alignment will be partially new and will require significant amounts of tunneling and bridge building activities with significant community impacts from resettlement and land conversion. Works will require construction in the Dzirula, Kvirila and Borimela rivers with 10 bridges, resulting in the loss of riparian habitat. Tunneling and cutting will require disposal of spoil during construction of 700,000 cubic meters. Impacts on noise, vibration, air quality, and surface water will occur during construction.

Involuntary Resettlement

The project is categorized as A for involuntary resettlement. As per the preliminary inventory, there are 455 APs with 2047 DPs affected by IR. Of these, 379 APs are severely affected, including 21 who are physically displaced. A land acquisition and resettlement plan (LARP) was prepared for JICA and is currently under implementation, approximately 90% completed. A due diligence is being performed on the LARP and a corrective action plan prepared to cover gaps between JICA and ADB policy.

Indigenous Peoples

The project is classified as category C for indigenous people. There are no indigenous peoples in the project area as defined in ADB's SPS (2009).

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

Consultations were carried out with different stakeholders, including local communities in Zestafoni, in particular women, local authority representatives and civil society groups to inform them of the project as well as discuss its social and economic impacts. Civil society organizations were consulted to discuss community and gender-related issues.

During Project Implementation

Civil society organization does not have a specific role during project implementation.

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

Consulting firms will be selected and engaged using the quality- and cost-based selection (QCBS) method and quality-based selection (QBS) method, where applicable.

Procurement

The procurement of goods, works, and the selection of consultant services will follow the new procurement framework as set out in ADB's Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and the Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time). Open competitive bidding (OCB) will be adopted for procurement and recruitment activities.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Naqvi, Zaigham Ali Akbar

Responsible ADB Department

Sectors Group

Responsible ADB Division

Transport Sector Office (SG-TRA)

Executing Agencies

Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia

Timetable

Concept Clearance

02 Jul 2019

Fact Finding

15 Jul 2019 to 26 Jul 2019

MRM

12 Sep 2019

Approval

22 Nov 2019

Last Review Mission

-

Last PDS Update

23 Feb 2024

Funding

Loan 3861-GEO