Graduates solve the problem of wheel tracking
The defense of graduation qualification works is nearing. This year, they will be held remotely, in online mode. In their studies, students of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering traditionally develop the most relevant topics for the industry.
Thus, wheel tracking, negatively affecting road safety, is an acute problem today. How do graduates of the SPbGASU Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels solve the problem?
Kristina Rulyova and Konstantin Slepokurov
Fourth-year student Kristina Rulyova studies in the area of training 08.03.01 “Construction” (“Construction of roads, airfields, transport infrastructure” speciality). Kristina is a participant in the competition for the Prize of the Government of St. Petersburg for the implementation of graduation projects commissioned by the state executive bodies in the 2019/2020 academic year. In her FQR, she examines the problem of rutting and methods to combat rutting on roads with asphalt-concrete surfacing. Her supervisor is Associate Professor of the Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels Alexander M. Simanovsky, Candidate of Engineering.
– “The theme of my FQW is a burning problem for the road industry worldwide. To begin with, rutting affects road safety; therefore, it requires timely elimination. This is another problem: often the track reaches unacceptable values earlier than the deadlines for regular repairing of pavements come. This leads to inefficient financing of the industry, in connection with which it is extremely important to use materials and technologies that can slowdown the formation of gauges. A change in existing and development of new regulatory documents is also needed.
The first stage of my work was the collection of theoretical data on the causes of rutting and the analysis of foreign experience in dealing with wheel tracking. Scandinavian countries, which have similar to ours climate, have constructive experience that we could borrow. The second stage was the conduct of comparative laboratory tests to determine the most shear-resistant asphalt mixes, comparing forecast calculations and actual data on the development of gauges on the roads of our city. No regulatory documents from other countries are available in the public domain; therefore, information had to be taken from Russian publications that mention the necessary documents. As the results of the work, measures that would allow to slowdown the formation of wheel tracking were identified and recommendations for improving the regulatory and technical base were worked out,” said Kristina Rulyova.
Konstantin Slepokurov, second-year graduate student at SPbGASU (area of studies 08.04.01 “Construction”, “Design and Construction of Roads” speciality), as part of his final qualification work, decided to study in detail the use of asphalt-concrete mixes within the volumetric design system for the increase of the durability of road surfaces. The scientific supervisor of the graduate is the head of the Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels, Associate Professor Maria P. Klekovkina, Candidate of Engineering. We talked with Konstantin and found out what made him to choose this topic.
– “The study consists of comparing the durability of the materials used in the design of surfacing structures, namely, in predicting rutting on the pavement (residual deformation) and cracking (fatigue crack resistance) at the border of the bases and coatings of roads. The Superpave system studied in my work is just at the beginning of being used in the road sector of the Russian Federation. The topic that I chose is very pertinent, since research in this sphere can help significantly improve the state of Russian roads. A numerical experiment of this sort, in which Superpave participates, has not yet been conducted. At the moment, I’m working on the concluding stage of the explanatory note of the final qualification work. I had completed the entire analytical part, after what it was verified by the chief specialist of Stroyproekt JSC, who acts as my diploma consultant.
The complexity of the FQW was in comparing the characteristics of the materials, since not all characteristics of the innovative materials are known, and there are gaps in the regulatory documentation in this sphere,” the graduate told about his work.
- “Konstantin is a prospective postgraduate student of the department: he wants to continue his research. Choosing a topic, first of all, we paid attention to the relevance of and prospects for the development of the method of volume-functional design of asphalt mixes (Superpave). The method under study is in the stage of being introduced into the road sector of Russia; this started only a few years ago, but already led to large-scale changes in the regulatory framework. The industry had been waiting for the adoption of a whole series of GOSTs based on this method, and they were adopted a year ago. What changes will follow in connection with this in road construction, whether the goals to increase the turnaround time would be achieved, and the operational characteristics of road surfaces improved - all these questions cause discussions in the scientific and industrial community; it is still impossible to give an unequivocal answer to them. Therefore, studies on the system of volumetric-functional design are undoubtedly very relevant,” noted the research supervisor Maria Klekovkina.
The topics of the FQWs for department’s graduates of this year are aimed at solving tasks of paramount importance for road workers. The Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels traditionally closely cooperates with design and production organizations; therefore, even at the stage of selecting topics for final qualification works students are well aware of what problems are most relevant in the industry and require research and solution.
– Many topics are studies in the interests of design and production organizations of the road economy, where students have the opportunity to test the results as part of their internships and get the opportunity to continue working in these organizations in the future. What areas are developing in the final qualification works at the department. In the works of undergraduate students, these are projects of two- level transport interchanges, design of roads bypassing settlements, use of new materials and technologies for the repair of urban roads, maintaining roads, overhauling runways with artificial turf, and improving traffic safety on motor roads. Among the specialist’s degree works submitted for defense there are works devoted to the construction of new bridge structures and design projects for the repair and reconstruction of existing structures.
In Master’s degree FQWs, the attention is focused of the scientific, technical and practical aspects of the technical operation of highways, as was the case in the already mentioned use of asphalt-concrete mixes based on the volumetric design system aimed at the increase in the durability of road surfaces, as well as other relevant areas: ensuring environmental safety of road infrastructure at the stages of their life cycle, the use of reinforced soil structures of the subgrade on roads, methods of geodetic measurements based on modern technologies in road construction, the use of effective thermal insulation in road structures of urban roads and others.
“A number of projects can be recommended for practical use in organizations such as Avto-Dorservice, Stroyproject, VAD, PETERBURG-DORSERVICE, Lenaeroproekt and others,” added Maria Klekovkina.
We wish all graduates excellent defense of their final qualification works and success in their future professional activities!
Text: Anastasia Blinova
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