This railway, together with the driving roads over the Caucasus mountains via the Mamison pass (the Ossetic military road) and the Darial pass (the Georgian military road), and the route across the Black Sea to Poti or Batum are the chief means of communication between southern Russia and Transcaucasia.
The Mamison Pass, over which runs the Ossetic military road (made passable for vehicles in 1889)from the Terek(below Vladikavkaz) to Kutais in the valley of the Rion, skirting the eastern foot of the Adai-khokh, lies at an altitude of 9270 ft.
There is much lexis that has the features of Ossetic -European isoglosses.