TEHRAN- Some 7,800 kilometers of freeways are under construction through 16 projects in Iran, according to Deputy Transport Minister Kheirollah Khademi.

The official, who is also the managing director of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC), put the current length of Iran’s freeways at 17,000 kilometers, IRNA reported.

Khademi further said that over 5,000 heavy machines and 15,000 persons are working in the freeway-construction projects.

The official said in early May that about 920 kilometers of freeways are projected to be constructed throughout Iran by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2019).

He also announced that about 820 kilometers of freeways were constructed in Iran during the past Iranian calendar year.

Last month, deputy director of CDTIC said that construction of Iran’s longest freeway is planned to be completed within the next two years.

Seyed Hassan Mirshafi’ said this freeway with the length of 700 kilometers will connect Natanz in the central province of Isfahan to Bandar-Abbas in the southern province of Hormozgan.

The first part of the freeway with the length of 60 kilometers from Sirjan in the south-central province of Kerman to Bandar-Abbas is currently under construction with 2 trillion rials (about $46.5 million) of investment made by the private sector, the deputy director added.

Constructing each part of the freeway will cost 880 billion rials (about $20.4 million), he said and added that some governmental budget has been also allocated to this project.

MA/MA