BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 20. Specialists from
Kazakhstan’s Kazakh Road Research Institute (KazDorNII) are
studying artificial intelligence, digital monitoring, and advanced
road material technologies in China to assess their potential
application in Kazakhstan.
This was announced by the press service of the Kazakh Ministry
of Transport.
According to the Ministry, from August 14 through August 19,
KazDorNII specialists underwent training in Nanjing as part of the
2026 Engineering Capacity Building Program, held at the invitation
of partner organization JSTI Group. The program brought together
engineers from Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and other
Asian countries to exchange experience and study China’s
engineering solutions.
One of the key areas was the use of AI in the digital management
of road infrastructure. KazDorNII specialists visited the Jiangsu
Province Expressway Operation and Management Center, where data on
road conditions and traffic flows are collected in real time.
Intelligent systems are used to forecast congestion,
automatically detect traffic incidents, and coordinate traffic on
highways. According to the ministry, such technologies enable a
shift from responding to existing problems to predicting and
preventing potential disruptions.
Another area of interest for Kazakhstan is digital monitoring of
bridge conditions. Specialists studied Structural Health Monitoring
(SHM) systems on cable-stayed and suspension bridges across the
Yangtze River. Sensors installed on the structures continuously
record vibrations, deformations, and other changes, while
predictive models help identify potential risks at an early
stage.
The KazDorNII delegation also visited the National Engineering
Research Center for Advanced Road Materials (NERC-ARM), the
National Key Laboratory for Safety and Technical Maintenance of
Long-Span Bridges, and research centers of Southeast
University.
Particular attention was paid to next-generation road materials,
including self-healing and energy-efficient pavements, as well as
modified asphalt concrete designed for greater durability under
heavy traffic and challenging climatic conditions.
“Modern infrastructure management means not waiting for a
critical defect to appear, but identifying in advance where and
when it could occur. The AI, digital twin and instrumental
monitoring technologies studied in China are in line with the
direction being developed by KazDorNII for Kazakhstan’s road
sector. Our task is to adapt the most effective solutions to
Kazakhstan’s conditions and apply them in the diagnostics and
management of road assets,” the institute’s specialists said.
According to the ministry, the experience gained in China will
be used to further develop intelligent road and infrastructure
monitoring systems, improve infrastructure diagnostics, and conduct
research into more durable road materials.
