The Arctic is Getting Closer

International Conference “Arctic Transport Accessibility: Networks and Systems” (ATA 2021) was held at SPbGASU on June 2–4, 2021 and brought together more than 200 participants. Scientists, heads of companies and representatives of government authorities from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Voronezh, Irkutsk, Tyumen and other Russian cities as well as from abroad have discussed the issues of increasing the accessibility of the Arctic regions and the development of sustainable transport systems.

The conference organizers were the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering and the SPbGASU Institute for Road Traffic Safety; ETS (École de Technologie Supérieure), Montreal, Canada; Solomenko Institute of Transport Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and the Russian Transport Academy.

Vice Rector for Science of SPbGASU Irina Drozdova addressed the participants on behalf of the Rector Evgeny Rybnov: “65 percent of the territory of Russia is occupied by the permafrost zone. The area’s distinguishing features are large-sized engineering facilities, the use of structural supports and hazardous road conditions. Almost all settlements in the Arctic appear to be surviving, not developing. In this regard, there is a need to ensure the sustainable development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation on the basis of innovative solutions in the design and construction of buildings for various purposes, engineering and transport infrastructure. "

Irina Drozdova informed the conference participants about the Arctic-related research studies conducted at SPbGASU.

“I hope that the conference taking place in 2021, the Year of Science and Technology, will allow finding effective solutions to many problems and will contribute to fruitful cooperation between Russian and foreign universities and the business community, and will help launching new interesting projects in the field of developing transport infrastructure in the Arctic,” emphasized Irina Drozdova.

Sergey Evtyukov, Head of the SPbGASU Department of Land Transport and Technological Machines, read out greetings from the Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Regional Policy and Problems of the North and the Far East Nikolay Kharitonov, PhD in Economics, and Chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee on Arctic Affairs German Shirokov. Andrey Andreev, President of the United Logistics Association, managing company of the Russian Northwest transport logistics cluster, and CEO of JSC Yakutia Airlines Vladimir Gorbunov, PhD in Engineering, also wished the ATA 2021 participants a successful conference.

✔ Dean of the Automotive and Tractor Faculty of the Belarusian National Technical University, Professor of the Department of Transport Systems and Technologies Denis Kapsky, DSc, spoke about the prospects for the development of automotive technologies in the Arctic. The speaker told about the prototype of an all-terrain vehicle on low-pressure tires. It is a cross-country vehicle designed for off-road conditions, including snow, ice, water and wetlands. Another innovative proposal deals with motor fuels that could be obtained from renewable raw materials, and their use in the Arctic regions. The production, delivery and storage of such fuels do not pose a big threat to the Arctic ecosystem, and production waste can be used to feed animals.

✔ Vladimir Gorbunov, Director General of Yakutia Airlines, spoke about the role of aviation in ensuring transport accessibility and aircraft operation in the Far North. He stressed that the state programme on socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic zone requires increasing the transport accessibility of the Northern regions, where aviation plays an important role. However, in small regional airports, the operation of modern airplanes at temperatures below –40°C without a hangar leads to decreasing reliability and a higher risk of failures. Airlines are forced to avoid long and overnight stops. A possible solution to the problem is a wider use of the domestic-made Superjet-SSJ100 airliner, which can be successfully operated at the temperature of –54°C. For this purpose, a unified centre for the Russian-made aircraft maintenance and repair has been designed. It is to be based at the ‘Yakutia Technics’ certified centre, which already has experience in SSJ100 technical maintenance.

✔ A team of authors composed of Aleksandr Pushkarev, DSc, Professor of the SPbGASU Department of Land Transport and Technological Machines, Professor Aleksandr Afanasyev, PhD, Head of the Department of Transport and Technological Processes and Machines at St. Petersburg Mining University, Associate Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Land Transport and Technological Machines Tamara Vinogradova, PhD, and SPbGASU postgraduate student Anastasia Maksimova, presented their report on the methods and technologies of road construction in the conditions of unstable seasonally frozen soils. The researchers informed that an increase in the temperature and depth of summer thawing of perennial soils, and the shrinking area of such soils, observed since the 1970s, significantly affects the economy of the Northern regions: more than 30% of proven oil reserves, about 60% of natural gas, huge deposits of coal and peat are concentrated in the Russian North. An extensive infrastructure has been created to serve the needs of the industry, while many structures are built on pile foundations using permafrost soil as a base and are designed to be operated under certain temperature conditions. To solve problems related to the reliability and durability of transport infrastructure facilities in the Arctic, scientists have proposed a number of technical and technological measures, including equipping important infrastructure facilities with monitoring systems to prevent emergencies.

✔ Dynamic monitoring of the concentration of harmful emissions from vehicles based on high-precision neural networks is the subject of research carried out by Associate Professor of the Department of Automobile Transport at South Ural State University Vladimir Shepelev, PhD. “World Health Organization’s studies prove that half of all deaths caused by air pollution are associated with road traffic. Existing methods and solutions do not allow determining the amount and structure of pollutants from traffic flows in real time,” said the author, presenting AIMS Eco, a tool for tracking harmful emissions from vehicles. “We can provide a tool for road services that allows managing the traffic, assessing the traffic situation and the effectiveness of transport services’ actions,” noted the author.

✔ The business meeting dedicated to international cooperation was opened by the report of Vice Rector for External Relations of SPbGASU, Professor Irina Lugovskaia, who informed about the university’s international activities. “Next year SPbGASU will celebrate 190 years since its foundation. Over the years, the university has made a significant contribution to the architectural heritage and construction technologies of our country and many foreign states,” she emphasized.

✔ Schubert Menyan, Associate Professor of the Engineering Academy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia and Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, made a presentation titled "A comprehensive mechanism for ensuring environmental sustainability in the Arctic zone." The author is convinced that a global partnership in the development of the Arctic region and creating an integrated waste management mechanism will ensure sustainable growth while preserving the entire richness of the Arctic ecosystem.

✔ The conference programme also included a round table for young scientists, organized by the SPbGASU Council of Young Scientists, where Ivan Yunin, Director of the Moscow Transport Innovations industry accelerator, presented his team’s activities to the audience. They help launching startup pilot projects, conduct training involving best experts and assist in developing professional networking.

✔ Irina Poleshkina, PhD, the Executive Secretary of the ‘Scientific Bulletin’ published by Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation, Associate Professor at the MSTUCA Department of Air Transportation, told about the peculiarities of publications in Scopus and Web of Science, and shared advice on how to choose a journal for publishing a scientific article. Young scientists told about their PhD research projects.

Text: Tatyana Petrova
Photo: Lada Cheglakova

✔ Learn more about the scientific conferences and seminars of SPbGASU