Energy-saving problems of road facilities in Russia

Abstract

The total length of federal highways in Russia is 50,749.2 km, which is only 5% of all the roads of the country, but they form the basic road network of Russia's two-thirds road freight turnover. Nearly 80% of these roads are overloaded, which leads to intensive destruction of the roads, and, hence, the apparent increase of vehicle fuel consumption and energy demand related to roadway maintenance works, traffic safety and users' comfort. The work purpose is a scientific substantiation of actions needed to improve energy efficiency of Russian road facilities up to the level of advanced countries of the world. The authors have developed the methodology to allow the quantitative determination of increasing energy efficiency for the public road system in the following basic directions: substantiation of design choices based on a minimization of energy costs during the whole life cycle of a road; normalization of energy consumption of the manufacturers producing road-building materials; use of the best accessible energy-saving technologies and replacement of power inputs from nonrenewable resources by renewable, which are related to traffic safety, users' comfort; development of recycling technologies for energycontaining waste, for example, mill culls and brush wood; adaptation of "green standards" of the real estate objects (LEED, BREEM) for linear road constructions, primarily, the object of road service. The results of statistical, settlement and experimental research which are useful both for scientific purposes and also represent a practical interest for the investors involved in the realization of mechanisms of public-private partnership in design, construction and maintenance of roads are represented in this paper. © 2014 WIT Press.