Manual for Climate Change Adaptation Measures for Transport Infrastructure in Central Asia with a Focus on Uzbekistan

By Asian Development Bank

This manual provides an overview of climate-driven stressors relevant to transport infrastructure in Central Asia and explores adaptation strategies. Over the next decades, the effects of climate change will likely exert considerable pressure on the transport infrastructure of Central Asia. In response, policymakers and the engineering community need to implement resilient yet sustainable designs and construction solutions. This resource provides technical and practical information to support such work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9789292705725

Book preview

MANUAL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION MEASURES FOR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN CENTRAL ASIA WITH A FOCUS ON UZBEKISTAN

DECEMBER 2023

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

© 2023 Asian Development Bank

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Some rights reserved. Published in 2023.

ISBN 978-92-9270-571-8 (print); 978-92-9270-572-5 (electronic); 978-92-9270-573-2 (e-book)

Publication Stock No. TIM230612

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TIM230612

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Notes:

1. In this publication, $ refers to United States dollars.

2. ADB recognizes China as the People’s Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan as the Kyrgyz Republic, and Russia as the Russian Federation.

On the cover: Climate change effects on road projects (photos by ADB).

Contents

Tables, Figures, and Box

Scope and Structure of the Manual

This manual aims to provide government officials, consultants, and contractors with useful information and resources on the impact of climate change in Central Asia and to show how adaptation measures can increase the resilience of the built transport infrastructure.

Considering in particular Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, the manual discusses the practical effects of climate change on transport infrastructure. It shows that understanding the potential threat posed by climate change is essential to ensuring that infrastructure is designed and built to be more resilient.

In this manual, transport infrastructure refers to essential components such as asphalt and concrete pavement, embankments, bridges, slopes, trenches, and drainage systems. Railways share similar structural solutions with motorways (drainage, trenches, embankment, bridges, tunnels), as well as unique elements such as tracks, cables, and signaling. Airport pavement, which suffers the same distresses as flexible (asphalt) and rigid (concrete) road pavement, is also among the structures that are vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

The manual shows how Central Asia’s core transport infrastructure is expected to be impacted by the intensifying droughts, extreme rain events, glacial melt, and desertification predicted by climate change models. It assesses the effects of gravity flows, avalanches, glacial and permafrost melt, and heat on pavement.

The manual also discusses general adaptation measures to improve the resiliency of infrastructure in the region and concludes with a section focusing on Uzbekistan. Principal climate change stressors are reviewed and discussed, together with adaptation measures, including the use of low-cost bioengineering