Background
The city of Semey, located in northeastern Kazakhstan, is the country’s fourth largest city as well as one of the important industrial cities in Kazakhstan’s northern region. It is a base for road transport and rail transport that connects Kazakhstan with central Russia. The city was developed along both sides of the Irtish River, a major river in Kazakhstan. One of Kazakhstan’s major trunk roads crosses the Irtish River in the city of Semey and leads to central Russia, traversing Omsk and Novosibirsk, as well as to the Chinese border. However, the only road bridge (hereinafter referred to as the “preexisting bridge”) in the city was the one built for the above-mentioned trunk line. It was a concrete bridge constructed in the city center in the 1960s; it was severely aged due to the extreme climate and inadequate operation and maintenance and was in danger of collapse. The traffic volume on the preexisting bridge at the time of the appraisal (1996) was 33,000 vehicles/day, and this figure was expected to increase. However, lane restrictions were applied, only 2 out of 4 lanes were used due to the above-mentioned age-worn condition of the bridge, hindering the smooth flow of traffic. Moreover, if the deterioration of the preexisting bridge had progressed further leading to closure of the bridge, the flow of city traffic have been completely blocked. There was a concern that closure would have posed a serious impediment to traffic over a wide geographical area, from central to northeastern Kazakhstan as well as central Russia. There was a time, when Semey was the capital of East Kazakhstan Region. Since May 1997, it has lost its status as being capital of the region. The project’s objective was to ensure the safe and smooth flow of traffic on a major trunk road by constructing a new bridge across the river and by construc