Ust-Kamenogorsk, 30 October. First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlybek Nalibayev opened the Terensai pass bypass road in East Kazakhstan region and a 175 m bridge over the Pikhtovka river 45 m above a gorge — the highest mountain road bridge in Kazakhstan, the government said.
The bridge, with seven spans and eight piers carrying 79 reinforced concrete beams, follows a curved path to fit the mountain terrain. The bypass, about 12 km long, takes traffic off the dangerous switchbacks of the pass, where blizzards and ice often restricted traffic in winter. Building the road took about nine years: the project began in 2017, with stoppages, changes of contractors and complex engineering and geological problems, KazAvtoZhol said. KazAvtoZhol calls the road a bypass of the Osinovsky pass and the government a bypass of the Terensai pass: in nine years of construction the pass seems to have acquired two names. Main works on the reconstruction of 28 km of the Ust-Kamenogorsk — Altai — Ulken Naryn — Katon-Karagai — Rakhmanovskiye Klyuchi highway were completed at the same time.
What it means: The most dangerous winter section of the road to the Bukhtarma reservoir and Katon-Karagai is now bypassed by a new bridge that took nine years to build.
Who benefits: Residents of the Altai, Ulken Naryn and Katon-Karagai districts gain a safe year-round road. Tourism gains access to Bukhtarma, Katon-Karagai National Park and the Rakhmanovskiye Klyuchi resort. The project’s cost was not named.
Background: The same day in Ust-Kamenogorsk Nalibayev inspected construction of an interchange at Satpayev Avenue and Zhibek Zholy Street, which is to raise capacity from 85,000 to more than 200,000 vehicles a day, and opened a Haematology Centre under construction since 2020.
