You won’t spoil the track with crumbs – Newspaper Kommersant No. 16 (7461) of 01/30/2023
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Rosavtodor is expanding the practice of using old asphalt in the repair of highways. The cold recycling technology, which allows saving the budget and reducing repair time, has been used for more than 20 years in a number of regions. Now the authorities intend to expand the scale of its use. To test the effectiveness of the methodology, “generalization of accumulated experience” and “selection of optimal solutions”, Rosavtodor ordered a scientific study for 26.4 million rubles. In the regions, the technology is praised, but it is noted that it is more suitable for small tracks outside of settlements. In cities, it is hardly applicable due to the large amount of dust produced during recycling, as well as noise.
Rosavtodor held a tender to study the “practice of application” of cold recycling technology in the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of roads. Contract for 26.4 million rubles. will be concluded with the association “Rosasfalt”, whose president is the deputy head of the public council of Rosavtodor Nikolai Bystrov.
Recycling in road construction involves the technology of reusing old asphalt. There are hot recycling (with heating of the old coating before laying) and cold. The latter is more common and cheaper. Old asphalt is crushed by milling and mixed with crushed stone, sand, various additives, cement or bitumen. Cold recycling allows you to save building materials and not spend money on their delivery, they say in Rosavtodor. In addition, there is no need to take out and dispose of the old material. This technology is widely known abroad. In Russia, it has been used since the early 2000s.
The results of the recycling in question have not yet been analyzed, Rosavtodor explained to Kommersant, there are no statistics. “There are a large number of technology options that involve the use of various techniques and starting materials,” they say. “It is necessary to generalize the accumulated experience and conduct additional field tests to prepare recommendations for choosing the best solutions.” “Highly qualified specialists and organizations with relevant experience and competencies” should be involved in recycling to prevent premature destruction of roads, the Rosavtodor notes. The agency reminds that recently a large number of regional roads have been transferred to federal ownership (“Kommersant” talked about this process), they require repair. “Cold recycling is a technology that allows us to reach the required level in the shortest possible time and significantly reduce the cost of work,” Rosavtodor explained. “There is a need to increase the volume of this technology. Its use in practice will depend on the allocation of the necessary funding.
The technology can be used to restore old gravel roads, says Alexander Vasilyev, coordinator of the Map of Dead Roads project. “Its application is relevant right now against the backdrop of budget cuts,” he said. “But the technology has not been fully explored, often there are difficulties with the preparation of project documentation, the calculation of mixtures. Additional research is needed.” For the lower layers of pavement, Mr. Vasilyev believes, it is possible to use garbage at all: “The Dutch have long been rolling up everything that they cannot throw into a landfill on the road.”
As part of the contract, an analysis of the market for cold recycling machines will be carried out. “The machines operating in Russia are mainly foreign-made from leading companies from the USA and Europe,” Nikolai Krupin, coordinator of the technical committee of the Rosasfalt association, explained to Kommersant. “In the middle of last year, there were problems with the supply of spare parts, but they are currently completely resolved. There is still a limited possibility of supplying new machines from Western manufacturers, as well as the possibility of supplying used equipment in good condition. Over the past few years, the share of cars from China has increased, the quality of which has grown.” Russian manufacturers say they will be ready to introduce a product in this segment to the market in two years, says Mr. Krupin.
The North-Western Concession Company (the operator of the 15-58 km section of the M-11 highway) tells Kommersant that they use mainly new materials for repairs. “On our road, the pavement must be especially durable and wear-resistant due to increased loads and speeds, the requirements for asphalt concrete mix are stricter than on other roads,” the company says. “We give all recycled asphalt to the contractor, and he disposes of the material in his own way. discretion.” In the capital’s State Budgetary Institution “Roads” “Kommersant” was told that they do not use recycling: this technology is more suitable for repairing country roads and local roads. The Ministry of Transport near Moscow told Kommersant that in 2019-2020, roads with a weak base were repaired using recycling, now the technology is not used (the reason was not named in the department).
The road after the application of cold recycling gets a very hard and dense surface, Andrey Demin, head of the quality control and innovation department of the State Institution “Directorate of Transport Construction” (St. Petersburg), told Kommersant, which complicates the subsequent repair of communications passing under the roadway. The main place for recycling is country roads, the expert says. “The reasons are simple: the work is noisy and dusty, four or five units of road equipment are working at the same time, which is often impossible in urban areas,” he explains.
The use of recycling “drastically” reduces transport costs during repairs, reducing the harm from trucks transporting building materials, according to the Ministry of Transport of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Among the shortcomings of the technology, the road builders of the region point out the “variability of the characteristics of the materials of the layers”, a significant impact on the recycling process of the weather, as well as the need for constant monitoring of the operation of the equipment, “taking into account unforeseen terrain conditions.”
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