Tehran-North Freeway MoU With China

As per the MoU, the two sides will survey different aspects and details of the project within five months and sign a contract if they reach an agreement, IRNA reported.

A subsidiary of Chinese state-owned construction company China Railway Group Limited, CRAC, according to its website, is dedicated to scientific research, design, supervision, testing, construction and hi-tech product development.

These activities pertain to tunnel and underground works, engineering geology and geological disasters prevention and treatment, bridge and structural engineering, Financial Tribune reported.

CRAC has completed the survey, design, supervision, monitoring and testing tasks of hundreds of key projects such as Beijing Metro, Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Subsea Tunnel, Guangzhou Yajisha Bridge and Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport.

Preliminary plans to construct the Tehran-North project, which consists of four sections spanning 121 kilometers, were proposed about 20 years ago. The freeway is to connect Tehran to the city of Chalous in northern Mazandaran Province.

The 32-kilometer Section 1, from west of Tehran to Shahrestanak Village, will cut the current path short by 60 kilometers, is currently under construction.

Sections 2 and 3 pass through mountainous terrain, are not easily accessible and will take longer to complete.

Section 4 of the freeway, which is 20 kilometers long and connects Marzanabad in Kelardasht District to Chalous (both in Mazandaran), was inaugurated in March 2014, was later closed to the public due to technical problems.

Mohammad Saeedikia, the head of Mostazafan Foundation said last year that the protracted project will fully come on stream by March 2023.    

During his visit to the site on June 17, he apologized for the inordinate delays, saying Section 1 will be completed before the Iranian year is out in March 2018.