114.4 billion tenge for the repair of more than 579 km of roads are planned to be allocated this year in the West Kazakhstan Region (WKR).
According to the Kazinform news agency, the head of the West Kazakhstan Region's Department of Passenger Transport and Highways, Bauyrzhan Aitmagambetov, reported that in 2024, more than 1,128 thousand tonnes of gravel will be required for road repairs. According to him, transporting this amount of materials will require more than 16,000 wagons.
"Today, 61% of the total required volume has been secured (691 thousand tonnes or 10,000 wagons). A total of 10 railway wagons are involved. Also, considering the required volume of bitumen this year of 38,000 tonnes, between May and October it is necessary to supply approximately 4.5-5,000 tonnes of bitumen monthly. Currently, over 8.6 thousand tonnes of bitumen have been stockpiled. Work on procuring materials continues," said Aitmagambetov.
He also stated that due to floods along the Ural River, quarries where sand and gravel mix (SGM) was extracted have been flooded. Consequently, there is a shortage of SGM on the sections under repair. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the year, 67% of the required volume of construction material was purchased and paid for in advance.
"All contractors have been warned that road construction work must be completed by the end of September. However, due to the floods in the region, construction work is starting late. Advances were provided to contractor organisations for the early conclusion and payment of contracts with suppliers of inert materials. Currently, advances totalling 9.5 billion tenge have been paid for 43 projects on regional and district roads," said the head of the department.
It has become known that in the West Kazakhstan Region, the total length of roads is 6,183 km, of which 1,421 km are republican roads and 4,762 km are local roads. According to the department, the share of republican roads in standard condition is 73%, and local roads 52%. By the end of the year, it is planned to increase the share of local roads in good condition to 58%.
"For the repair of regional and district roads over 2019–2023, 87.3 billion tenge was allocated, and 1,059.1 km of roads were repaired. As a result, the proportion in standard condition was increased from 28% to 52%. Over these years, 64.8 billion tenge was allocated for district roads and intra-settlement roads, and 894.9 km of roads were repaired. Most of the repair work on intra-settlement roads was carried out in district centres. The main goal is the targeted utilisation of funds allocated for repairs and improving road quality," said Aitmagambetov.