On May 16 local time, the first phase of the Astana Light Rail project in Kazakhstan officially opened for operation. As a key project under the Belt and Road Initiative, this approximately 22.4-kilometer light rail line is the first rail transit project in Central Asia to be built entirely with Chinese standards, Chinese technology, and Chinese equipment, and is also Central Asia's first fully automated driverless intelligent rail transit line.

Bai Zhigang, manager of the International Engineering Company of the General Contracting Company of Yunnan Construction and Investment Group, a project participant, said in an interview with reporters that the first phase of the Astana Light Rail project starts in the south at Nursultan International Airport and runs north to Astana's new railway station, passing along the way through the Presidential Palace, Nazarbayev University, the National Museum, and other urban landmarks and key functional areas, with a total of 18 stations and one depot. Once the project opens to traffic, it will cut commuting time between the two ends of the city by nearly half, greatly improving residents' travel efficiency and becoming an important transportation artery supporting Kazakhstan's economic and social development.

According to reports, in this project, the construction team was mainly responsible for the construction of some stations and sections, including architectural, structural, decoration and renovation, installation works, as well as light rail landscaping works.

Astana is the world's second-coldest capital, with extreme winter temperatures reaching as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. Construction under extreme cold conditions has long been a regional and even global engineering challenge. Bai Zhigang said that in the face of the dual test of extreme climate and complex conditions, the project team established dual material supply channels combining domestic procurement and local allocation to precisely coordinate material support; innovatively created a three-dimensional cold-proof and thermal insulation system, implementing triple sealing at stations and tunnel portals to strictly prevent cold winds from intruding, and equipped construction sites with standardized insulated work sheds and heating equipment to fully ensure constant-temperature construction. At the same time, the team carried out cold-proof and anti-freeze modifications to machinery and equipment, arranged dedicated personnel for 24-hour duty inspections to ensure efficient equipment operation; also compiled Chinese-Russian bilingual technical manuals, dynamically optimized construction plans and work rhythms, minimized the impact of extreme cold weather on the project, and ensured that Chinese construction standards were accurately implemented in an extremely cold environment.

It is reported that since the start of construction, the project team has successively set construction records including completing 1,380 cubic meters of mass concrete pouring in 20 hours, completing 121 pile foundations in 60 days during winter, and completing the pouring of 9 spans of cast-in-place box girders in 120 days, laying the foundation for the entire line to be completed and opened to traffic on schedule.

Source: China News Service