Refurbishing the road to Heydar Aliyev International Airport (Azerbaijan)2007-2008

Refurbishment and extension of the road to Heydar Aliyev International Airport, 5.500-13.169 km (Azerbaijan)

The project is situated at the eastern tip of the Absheron Peninsula; it links the broader centre of Baku with Heydar Aliyev International Airport, which is the largest airport in the country. The existing road has two separated carriageways with 4 to 6 lanes. Usual overall width is 43 m. The route includes a cloverleaf junction - Surakhani - that provides interconnection of the main route with the Amircan, Surakhani and Jeni Surakhani suburbs. It is formed by A, B and C branches and A1, A2 and A3 ramps. There is a bridge structure located at this grade-separated junction; it consists of two bridges with shared verge supports. It was this country’s first time ever instance of building a motorway information system. It is formed by gantries with variable traffic signs, cameras and a meteorological station. There are a total of seven such structures. The scarcity of proper local materials with sufficient hardness and strength was the biggest issue within the construction work; the stuff had to be transported from Quba - a place 165 km away. There were up to 6 000 tonnes of gravelsand brought to the site meaning that 300 trucks had to be employed on a 24/7 basis; the material was sourced from extensive, dried up Caucasian river beds.