In Saint Petersburg the Inter-branch Conference Bitumen and Polymer-Bitumen Binders. Topical Issues 2018 Is Held

Rosneft Bitumen, Gazprom Neft, SIBUR under the auspices of the Federal Road Agency and the State Company Russian Highways, are holding the seventh inter-branch conference Bitumen and Polymer-Bitumen Binders. Topical Issues 2018 in Saint Petersburg. The event gathered over 400 companies – manufacturers of materials for road construction, road enterprises, as well as controlling and regulating state bodies

Within two days – April 5 and 6 – the conference attendees discuss such topical issues in the field of road construction as the application of new industry standards and norms, the principles of formation of pricing mechanisms for the construction, reconstruction and repair of highways. On April 6, the experts of the Federal Road Agency will present a report on the results of the implementation of the priority national project Safe High-Quality Roads in 2017 and plans for 2018. This program has already become an effective mechanism for improving the quality of the road network in the Russian regions, including through the use of modern building materials.

The use of advanced technologies and solutions increasing the overhaul life of roads is one of the main topics of the event. In particular, the representatives of the state institution Highways share their experience in using modern materials to extend the life of Moscow road network, and the specialists of the Austrian OMV will talk about ensuring the quality of bituminous binders for road construction at various stages of the road life cycle. A separate technical session in the first day of the conference, speakers of which were the Russian and European experts, was devoted to modern trends in asphalt concrete use.

Conference attendees stressed the discussion of the prospects and peculiarities of the development of the domestic analogue of the Superpave methodology – the asphalt concrete mixture design system for point selection of asphalt concrete mixtures for each climatic zone. This technology has been already actively used by the manufacturers of roadway components, including the companies-organizers of the conference – to create personalized offers to consumers of bitumen products from different regions.

Director General of Rosneft Bitumen, Pavel Sterzhanov, noted in his speech at the conference: “In today’s conditions it is required that the road surface be strong, safe and durable at the same time with an overhaul life of over 12 years. Innovation is required in the form of new building materials with the increased durability, as well as in longevity evaluation procedures, to develop the effective ways to improve the asphalt concrete durability.”