A section of the road in the Dariali gorge, close to the Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border-crossing point with Russia in the northern mountainous part of Georgia, has been damaged after Tergi river overflowed its banks.
About 500 meter-long section of the road has been damaged, according to the governor of Mtskheta-Mtianeti region Gocha Zeikidze.
It may take from ten days to two weeks to restore the road, Economy Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili said.
The section of the road is in an immediate proximity to Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point between Georgia and Russia. The road is also important for Armenia as it is currently the only available link with Russia for the country via land.
The Georgian authorities closed traffic on the road on June 23, before it was damaged, after receiving early warning about mudflows in the Devdoraki gorge.
Employees of the Kazbegi border-crossing point were evacuated; later several dozen of people were flown out of the area by two Interior Ministry helicopters.
The same section of the road, running in the Dariali gorge, was hit by major landslides twice in 2014, killing several people, damaging the road, Kazbegi border-crossing infrastructure, and the pipeline carrying Russian gas to Armenia via Georgia.
In both of those cases landslides and mud flows originated from Devdoraki glacier on the northeastern slope of Mkinvartsveri (Mount Kazbek), bringing a huge amount of mud and debris through a valley eastward towards the Dariali gorge where the river Tergi flows northward towards Russia. Road leading to the Kazbegi-Larsi border crossing point with Russia runs along the river Tergi.
