ABOUT AN ADVISABILITY AND NECESSITY OF REALIZATION IN RUSSIA THE PILOT PROJECT OF BUILDING A POLYESTER AND POLYESTER-BASED GEOMATERIALS PRODUCTION PLANT. LIHOSLAVL-GEOFABRIC PROJECT

Road construction in Russia is in a deep system crisis.

Russian territory has weak grounds, high level of ground waters and peatbogs. Swamps, permafrost zones and the main cause of centuries-old impassibility is a weakness of foundations of the majority of roads currently in construction.

Classic method of solid foundation creation requires a tremendous working and financial cost causing by need of excavation of a trace ground as deep as 4-7 feet and following covering a road bed with quarrystone in ideal or, in practice, with sand-gravel mixes. This phase of building usually slows down a building speed without providing the required quality and term of pavement service.

In the last 30 years the world practice of building the automobile and rail roads, airports, heliports etc. is carried on with obligatory using of reinforcing high-strength geotextile materials. Geotextile fabric is indispensable in building of protective dams, coastal fortification of rivers, lakes, etc. Using of these materials decides a lot of problems in house building, landscape design in public and private residence zones, in settlements and villages. In production of fabric geomaterials using the chemical-stable high-strength polyester threads is advisable.

5-meter wide Geomaterial linens have a break-strength of 35…400 tons (up to 800,000 pounds). Unique strength and absorbing features of geomaterials, their longevity make them indispensable when reinforcing weak grounds. Using of them is an objective supposition of prolonging term of overhaul road exploitation at least for 15-20 years.

Progressive practice of world road construction has found a decision to the second important problem of Russian roads: major repair of aged roads and prolonging an exploitation terms of the road itself and asphalt-concrete covering. For that purpose before covering the road with asphalt-concrete mix, the road is being reinforced with high-strength polyester geo-grille (rarefied geofabric with different cell widths). This makes possible to avoid the road gauges and fissures creation resulting in road destruction. Using the quality bitumen the exploitation term of overhauled road generally continues for more then 10 years.

In experts' opinion, any strategical program of prospective road construction in Russia without using the fabric geomaterials is hopeless, because:

1. reinforcing the road foundation with geomaterials makes possible to abandon the expensive operation of road bed ground excavation (excavation and back-covering of one square meter of ground costs as much as 250-300 rubles or 10-13 dollars). The road construction using the geomaterials begins with leveling a road trace (freeing it of plants, stumps, stons, covering holes and grooves with ground). In a case of a road construction in floodable sites, geomaterials may cover even totally flooded surfaces.
2. using the geomaterials makes possible to build roads the whole year round. And by the way the winter period without asphalt-concrete covering is preferred, especially while building the roads in peatbogs and permafrost zones.
3. using the fabric geomaterials appreciably reduces the cost of top road covering with sand or grave and quantity control of these materials (sand coating must be a 30-50 cm thick, grave coat is up to 30 cm thick).

Russia also started using geomaterials in 60th of 20th century. Unfortunately road constructors choose the non-fabric materials.

Current productive capacity in geomaterial production in Russia is approximately 80 millions square meters per year (dornite, geokom, geotex and other materials).

In a world practice non-fabric geomaterials are used only to separate ground levels and as an adsorbing material. They can't carry out the reinforcement function due to low strength. For example, in the same conditions, dornite has strength of 12 kilo-Newtons/m. The best non-fabric material Typar has strength of 25 kilo-Newtons/m, when Stabilenka (fabric material) has strength of 150 kilo-Newtons/m. This is why 40 year practice of using the non-fabric materials didn't decide and couldn't decide the problem of reinforcing the road foundations and prolonging their term of life by 20-25 years.

In the road construction on weak grounds geofabrics with strength characteristics from 100 to 400 kilo-Newtons/m, in the worst cases (swamps, permafrost, airplane runways etc.) - 400 - 1000 kilo-Newtons/m are generally used. Polyester fabric linens of 5-meter width may stand the load of 40…400 tons. Imported geomaterials successfully used in construction projects of Moscow round road, Vnukovo and Sheremetievo airports, bridge construction in Moscow, Tula an Yakutia.

On 2004 Russia imported more than 30 millions square meters of polyester geofabrics and geo-grilles.

The major manufacturers of polyester geomaterials, companies Husker, Geolon (Germany), Polyfelt (Austria), Kordarna (Czech respublic) are producing the wide range of geomaterials with different strength in longitudinal and transversal directions.

High expensiveness of imported geomaterials is the main factor impedimental to wide application of new technologies in the Russian road construction. But the technical "backwardness" of Russia has a positive moment. Necessity of large-capacity production plants to provide road constructors with materials by the price reasonable for millions of Russians, drowning in dirt and impassibility in villages and settlements, is now obvious in practically any Russian district.

The main and determinant supposition of low cost of geomaterials is combining by the following technological processes in one production cycle:

• producing of polyethylene terephthalate;
• producing of high-strength technical threads and their processing into geofabrics and geo-grilles.

By experts' appraisal of the common investments into building of chemical-textile complex with production capacity of 100,000 tons peer year (300-350 millions square meters) may be approximately 450-480 millions of euro. With a project release price 3 and more times lower then imported analogues prices, investments may be paid back in 2.4 - 2.8 years.

By experts' opinion this large investment project may become a part of one of the National investment programs (in agriculture and housing construction). It is clear that without political will on the highest level the problem could not be decided. But in any business the FIRST STEP is the most important.

By expers's opinion the realization of the Pilot Project of polyester technical threads and geomaterials production plant with capacity of 15-20 millions square meters per year may become that FIRST STEP.

For Russian conditions the most essential geomaterials may be the following fabrics and geo-grilles:

In a sites of road in lowlands where ground water level is less then 1 meter, on swamps it's advisable to use geofabrics with strength of P 400/50 to P 1000/100.

In construction and overhaul of road covering buildings and traces with tram-lines it's advisable to use geo-grilles with strength of P 200/50 kiloNewtons/m.

By experts' appraisal, realization of the Pilot project will require the common investments of 30, 767 thousands of euro.

The preliminary "pessimistic" calculation of commercial effectiveness of Pilot project follows. "Pessimistic" means that prices of the major raw material took on a value 30% lower than imported analogues prices.

The project investment turnaround time is less than 3 years.

Project Lihoslavl-Geofabric assumes to produce every year 18.85 millions of square meters of geomaterials. This volume will provide to:

• build new 90 kilometers of federal roads, 130 kilometers of regional and municipal roads;
• make a major repair of 500 kilometers of federal and regional roads.

Moreover, for accomplishment of private residential zones in cities and villages it will be possible to use 1.76 millions of square meters of polyester geofabrics.

The indicated volumes will make possible to widely test the new technologies in road construction and make a real appraisal of their economical effectiveness comparing to traditional technologies.