An expressway built by Hunan Construction Investment Group in Georgia is put into operation.

With a car slowly entering a newly built road section of Georgia's E60 expressway, the project was recently opened to traffic, serving as a milestone after witnessing tremendous changes in the country.

The section of road, also known as the F2 project, was built by Hunan Road and Bridge Construction, a company affiliated with Hunan Construction Investment Group.

E60, or No 60 highway in Europe, is a main road connecting Europe and China. The expressway starts from Brest in western France and ends at Xinjiang's Irkeshtam Port, near Kyrgyzstan.

It is also the most important transportation route �1�3across Georgia and considered as the No 1 infrastructure project of the country, located at the intersection of Europe and Asia.

Total investment of the F2 project reached about 2 billion yuan ($275 million). It is a major project of Central China's Hunan province to participate in the construction of Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China a decade ago. It is also the largest and most influential single overseas project that Hunan Road and Bridge Construction has undertaken so far.

The F2 project is of strategic significance for the company to explore the civil engineering markets in such countries as Turkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan and even Europe, according to the company.

Located in the central area of Georgia, the first 2 kilometers of the project were demolished and reconstructed, with the rest newly built.

With a total length of 12.2 km, the project features four-lane roads in two directions. It includes 38 bridges and 20 tunnels, as well as several culverts, mechanical projects, and safety and greening facilities.

The F2 project across Central Georgia will greatly alleviate traffic pressure of the E60 sections and shorten journey times from the central Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to Batumi and Poti on the west coast.

The original E60 expressway was the main road from Poti's port to Tbilisi. With only two lanes in either direction, drivers used to suffer traffic jams caused by many large trucks. As a result, drivers needed three to four hours to travel less than 20 km. Now, the F2 project reduces the journey time to 10 minutes.

The travel time from Georgia to Turkiye, Central Asia, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will also be shortened, which can boost Georgia's advantages in transportation and play a key role in promoting the economic and social development in the country and the Asia-Europe region.

In 2022, Hunan Road and Bridge Construction won the bid to construct the LOT 3 project of the E60 expressway in Georgia. When completed, the project will be the company's second-largest single overseas project, with total investment exceeding $100 million.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn