Yesterday, on the 13th of April, German well-known company OBO Bettermann held introductory seminar at Armenia Marriott Hotel. The company this year celebrates its 100-year anniversary and is one of the leading European companies offering information technology and electrical network services. The seminar was organized by the Root ITSP, which is the official representative of OBO Bettermann in Armenia. Representatives of leading contructors of the republic were invited to participate in the event. Following the introduction by Root ITSP CEO Gegham Sargisyan, specially invited representatives of OBO Bettermann Waldemar Mader and Tarmo Riit took the floor. Mr. Riit described in detail the use of company products, and expressed hope that the presented systems and products will succeed in the Armenian market. It is important to mention that in contrast to the European market, where OBO Bettermann's production has taken a leading position in its sector, the existing technology of construction works in Armenia will not allow to use such products widely. However, we strongly recommend all interested Armenian companies to get acquainted with OBO Bettermann's proposals at the Armenian representative office, or visit the official website of the company.

As Yerevan mayor's office informed, 50 years old “Korean” bridge will open new opportunities for the capital after its reconstruction. The bridge directly connects Davtashen and Kanaker-Zeytun districts of Yerevan and additionally provides an opportunity to travel to Kotayk and Aragatsotn regions bypassing Yerevan. This program is for unloading the traffic of the capital.”We will be able to drive directly to Tbilisyan Highway, without entering the city, which will reduce the traffic load. Anyway, we cannot repair solely the bridge and solve this issue, the road also should be rebuild. Now drivers rarely use this route because of its deplorable state....”, mentioned the first deputy mayor Hrachya Sargsyan. Originally it was planned to strengthen the bridge and build a new road, however, the study showed that the foundation of the bridge was in disrepair, so it was decided to build a new one. The director of the factory of reinforced concrete bridge structures Minas Minasyan explained, “In fact, we must demolish an old bridge and build a new one. Existing is only 4 m long, but the new one will be 8 m, and it will have pedestrian walks from the both sides”. The work is expected to be completed this fall.

Ancient architectural, construction and cultural findings have always fascinated and continue to amaze us. The director of historical and archaeological museum-reserve “Erebuni” Mikael Badalyan told us about the recent excavations near the ancient hill Karmir Blur. - We are closely cooperating with the construction company building the North-South highway on the matter of the site connecting Shirak street with Argavand highway, where fragments of clay utensils were found. As a result, construction work on this site was suspended and we began control preventive excavations, as a result of which we were able to fix archaeological layers, containing different ceramics, where in the same context the “Urartian elite” and the local, so-called “polished” ceramics are combined. Besides, another structure was excavated with regular rows, parallel to each other, made of crushed stone, filled with river pebbles … This can be a wall or part of a tomb, or a platform … Also we found in the layer the bottom of a clay amphora. Obviously, they made a hole to place this amphora in the layer of river pebbles … The amphora may have been intended for cremation or other purposes. The main thing is that we have discovered a layer of human activity of the 7th-6th centuries BC on the outskirts of Karmir Blur. - And how many layers are there on the territory of Karmir Blur? - There are layers of pre-Urartian and Urartian periods, as well as structures of the late Bronze and early Iron ages, with semicircular and square layouts, on which the people of Urartu used to build their houses in the 7th century BC. In 2019, together with Armenian-Austrian expedition, we managed to fix also a post-Urartian layer, which I consider to be a very important achievement … In addition, there is a fairly rich medieval layer. In the upper part of Karmir Blur there was a chapel, that did not persist. Most likely, it was a medieval chapel. Initially, Karmir Blur - as a monument of the Urartian period, was known for this chapel... And I would not be surprised if it turns out that this chapel was built on the base of the Urartian Susi temple, as we found the cuneiform cornerstones of the Susi temple in Karmir Blur. In addition, coins of Georgian Queen Tamara and medieval ceramics were discovered. The interesting fact is, that few years ago we decided to plant cedars in front of the museum building. Digging the holes, we came across pottery and stopped digging. It turned out that it was a pottery of Kura-Araxes period, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. - Could the find during excavations be the basis for changing this part of the North-South project? - Yes, it could, if we found a serious monumental structure… This could be a tomb, palace, castle, some piece from prehistoric period. After all, Yerevan is a mosaic that is not fully known to us. … In general, very few excavations have been carried out on the territory of Yerevan. Mostly these are accidental discoveries. For example, ancient Urartian tomb near Yerevan-mole was discovered in 1984, when during the construction of auto parts factory the builders found several slabs. Another accidental discovery is Dzoraberd fortress next to Mergelyan Institute.