On the early morning of November 4, 2026, the lights on the construction site in Astana were still on. The crane slowly lifted, translated, and lowered the 45 meter long steel box girder, and the ground personnel stared at the alignment line without blinking. Wait for the beam to stabilize and settle down before a little white appears on the horizon.

The big guy went up to the sky in the middle of the night

The 45 meter steel box girder lifting of Astana Light Rail Phase II Line 4 Section 4-3, constructed by Yunnan Engineering Construction General Contracting Co., Ltd. International Engineering Company, has been successfully completed, and key construction nodes have been successfully completed. This steel box girder is a control project for Light Rail Line 4, with a large span, high self weight, and high requirements for lifting accuracy.

The positioning of the beam marks a crucial breakthrough in the construction of the elevated main structure of section 4-3, completely opening up the key passage for section construction and creating conditions for the comprehensive implementation of subsequent bridge deck paving, mechanical and electrical installation and other processes.

Connect ahead of the cold wave

Astana Light Rail Line 4 is a core commuter rail transit line connecting Astana and Koschi cities, with a total length of 9.0 kilometers. The entire line is elevated and has 3 elevated stations with an average distance of 3.0 kilometers between stations. The starting point of the line is 401 station, and the endpoint is connected to the section of the first phase of the light rail project to achieve seamless operation. The 4-3 section covers the civil engineering of 403 station and the construction tasks of a 1.686 kilometer section, including pile foundation, pier cap, pier column, cast-in-place continuous beam and steel box beam construction.

Since the fourth quarter, the project team has seized the golden period of construction before the arrival of winter, facing multiple challenges such as complex overseas construction environments, high precision construction difficulties, and tight schedules. The technical team has deepened the special lifting plan in advance, repeatedly carried out technical briefings, stress calculations, and simulation simulations, and strictly controlled the accuracy of the entire process of prefabrication, transportation, alignment, and positioning of steel box girders. The construction team optimizes the process connection, allocates manpower and materials, implements 24-hour shift work to tackle challenges, fully utilizes the skylight construction period, and solves problems such as cross construction, high-altitude operations, and precision control. The safety and quality inspection team provides on-site supervision throughout the entire process, closely monitoring key links such as high-altitude lifting, pile foundation construction, and pier pouring, and implementing safety control and quality acceptance standards. Keywords: Astana light rail, steel box girder hoisting

Next, the project team will refine the follow-up construction plan, strictly control the quality, safety production, and construction progress of the project, efficiently promote the remaining works, and contribute to the timely completion and opening of Astana Light Rail Line 4.Editor/Min Jing