Name on the map — Gudok article

— Dmitry Viktorovich, what significant construction projects has Lengiprotrans participated in over the years?

— Of course, over the years, the institute has accumulated vast experience in developing projects of various scale and complexity, its projects have been used to build objects that play a major role in the history of the country. For example, during the Great Patriotic War the Ladoga Lake — Voibokalo line, better known as the Road of Life, was built according to the design of Lengiprotrans, as well as the Victory Road: the Shlisselburg — Polyany line with a bridge over the Neva River. It also provided a link between the besieged Leningrad and the "Bolshaya Zemlya". With the participation of our employees the Volzhskaya Rokada, Stalingrad — Saratov — Sviyazhsk railway line, with a length of 1,110 km, was designed and built. The Rokada became the main road that supplied the Stalingrad Front with human resources, military equipment, ammunition and food, and largely ensured this victory. Let me remind you that earlier the institute was part of the structure of the Ministry of Transport Construction of the USSR, so it participated in many strategically important projects for the development of the economy. In the 1980s, Lengiprotrans designed the Ob — Bovanenkovo line, the northernmost railway in the world. And in 2015, the project of the Bovanenkovo — Sabetta line was completed, which will be the final link of the Northern Latitudinal Route and will provide a connection of the general railway network with the shortest sea route between the European part of Russia and the Far East. In 2013–2014, the development of the investment justification for the construction of the first HSR in the country Moscow — St. Petersburg, Moscow — Kazan — Yekaterinburg, Moscow — Rostov-on-Don — Adler was carried out. We think that the time for the construction of these lines will also come.

— If we turn to today's time, how can you assess the level of the institute? Does it apply new design technologies that could put it on a par with leading foreign companies?

— In terms of using modern technologies, we are in no way inferior to foreign designers. This includes modeling of linear railway infrastructure objects based on the domestic software Topomatic Robur, and BIM-design of industrial and civil construction objects based on foreign products. Work in this direction allows us to meet the ever-growing requirements from customers and remain in the trend of all-Russian tasks of the digital economy. The Institute is a member of the working group on the implementation of BIM technologies under the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, actively interacts with the relevant services responsible for the direction of BIM in JSC Russian Railways, is part of the international group buildingSMART, which develops standards for BIM design processes. I can also name our competitive advantages in the market. This is primarily an opportunity to independently refine the software for specific tasks of JSC Lengiprotrans, and the constant development of technological processes within the framework of information modeling within the institute, and participation in the field of standard-setting related to the formation of an important digital direction for Russia. Do not forget that the distinctive feature of Lengiprotrans is the tradition of continuity. In the most difficult times, the institute managed to preserve the team, and now the experience gained over the years is passed on to a new generation of design engineers. And for designers, experience is very important. For many decades, we have employed many talented and well-known prospectors, designers and engineers, whose names are borne by various railway facilities in Russia.

— Who can you name first?

— For example, one of the first railway stations named after an employee of Lengiprotrans — Farafontievskaya. This is the main station of the Yamal Railway Company for loading oil cargo. It was opened in 1982 and is named after the outstanding engineer Alexander Alexandrovich Farafontiev. He worked on strategically important and technically complex objects — BAM, the Transpolar Highway (Chum — Salekhard — Igarka line). On the Ob — Bovanenkovo line passing through the Yamal Peninsula, one of its junction, the Khralov junction, is named in memory of the author of the project of the railway line — Arkady Yakovlevich Khralov. Arkady Yakovlevich was the head of the party in the BAM surveys, but he devoted a significant part of his life to the development of Yamal. He was at the origin of the transport development of the largest oil and gas complexes, made a great personal contribution to the creation of the projects of the Nadym — Pangody — Yagelnaya, Yagelnaya — Urengoy, Ob — Bovanenkovo railway lines. Arkady Yakovlevich's great achievements were marked by many state awards: the Badge of Honor, medals For the Construction of BAM and for the development of the oil and gas complex of the Tyumen region. He was awarded the titles of "Honored Builder of Russia" and "Honorary Transport Builder". He devoted a significant part of his life to the development of Yamal.

In 2002, the construction of Russia's first commercial railway line Chinyavoryk — Timan was completed under the project of Lengiprotrans. In memory of the Chief engineer of the project and the Chief engineer of Lengiprotrans Vladimir Mikhailovich Makarov, the junction on the 67th km was renamed the Makarov junction. Vladimir Mikhailovich was also the head of the Chara — Tynda section expedition on the BAM, and worked at sites in Siberia and other regions of Russia. He paid much attention to improving the quality of design and estimate documentation, introducing advanced solutions and structures, and automating design and survey work. He is the author of many innovative solutions that have reduced the cost of construction. For high production performance during his lifetime, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the medals "For Labor Valor" and "For the Construction of BAM".

On the new highway of the Northern Latitudinal course there will be three objects named after the employees of Lengiprotrans. The Tatarintsevo station will be named after a talented prospector, the head of the Northern Design and Survey Expedition, the author of the Transpolar Highway project, engineer Pyotr Konstantinovich Tatarintsev. He was also engaged in the design of the BAM, and during the Great Patriotic War he worked on the Volzhskaya Rockade, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star and numerous medals.

There is a Cartus junction on the map, it's named after the head of the complex survey party of Lengiprotrans Albert Izrailevich Kartus. He carried out survey work and led working drawings on the second tracks of the Belomorsk — Apatity, Volkhovstroy — Petrozavodsk lines. These objects were of particular importance during the rapid development of industrial complexes and the development of the northern regions in the Soviet era.

The Freidzon crossing is named in memory of Zelik Moiseevich Freidzon, the head of the Lengiprotrans survey expedition and the builder of the Ob ice crossing.

So the employees of our institute left their mark throughout the country and in the republics of the former USSR, they were able to work in the most difficult conditions and passed on their experience to new generations.

— And what, in your opinion, are the most complex projects that Lengiprotrans has been able to implement today?

— All projects are complex in their own way, all require some special solutions. But I would probably single out three. In the 2000s, specialists of Lengiprotrans developed a project for an overpass along Alexandrovskaya Farm Avenue through the tracks of the St. Petersburg-Sortirovochny-Moskovsky station. The site is located between two cemeteries, the Jewish Cemetery and the Memorial of the Victims of January 9, which excluded the possibility of building an overpass in a straight line. The solution was the project of a curved cable-stayed bridge, with a very small radius — 400 m. Moreover, now it is one of the few structures in the world where the shrouds are located in the center, and not on both sides of the bridge. The result is a beautiful and unique structure.

While working on the project for the reconstruction of the Metallostroy motor car depot for the maintenance of high-speed electric trains Sapsan, one of the difficult tasks was to adapt the European technology for the repair and maintenance of rolling stock, as well as foreign equipment to fairly strict Russian standards. Numerous meetings, discussions, technical advice, and consultations with operating and expert organizations were held to coordinate and resolve issues. Lengiprotrans specialists  have gained enormous experience in working together with foreign colleagues. Another difficult task was the organization of service passages and communication corridors under the observation ditches and paths of the repair shop, provided that the ground water is high. Lengiprotrans proposed fundamentally new design solutions, technologies for lowering the ground water level and the use of modern waterproofing materials. At the same time, it was necessary to take into account the fact that the depot is located in the immediate vicinity of the St. Petersburg — Moscow line, so special attention was paid to the external and internal architectural appearance of industrial buildings, and the improvement of the territory.

The construction of the Buslovskaya railway station was not without difficulties. During the construction of the St. Petersburg — Helsinki high speed highway, the Finnish side requested a three-day "window" with a stop of international traffic on the line to carry out work on laying the tunnel in an open way. This made it possible for JSC Russian Railways in a short time to implement design solutions to bring the main railway track of the Buslovskaya station, which is the border point of the highway, to the design marks (to raise it conditionally by 1 m). It was a grandiose round-the-clock three-day work with a concentration of large labor and mechanized resources at the facility with the participation of Lengiprotrans designers.

We are still involved in very large and important construction projects for the country. For example, in the development of railway approaches to the ports of the North-Western basin: a comprehensive reconstruction of the Mga — Gatchina — Weimarn — Ivangorod section. It also includes the development of railway approaches to the port of Murmansk on the Murmansk — Petrozavodsk line and the development of the Ust-Luga railway node, within the framework of which the "station of the future" — Luzhskaya-Sortirovochnaya was implemented.

— It is said that the traditional confrontation between designers, builders and operators has recently intensified. How true is this?

— Friction has always existed and will continue to exist, but still practice shows that more often, and especially when there is an urgent need, a common language is always found.

In 1999, on the 1425th km of the St. Petersburg — Petrozavodsk — Murmansk railway line, powerful spring floods washed out a reinforced concrete pipe and partially destroyed the roadbed. Traditional technologies of restoration of the pipe and the roadbed did not allow to stop the process of destruction. At the prompt request of the management of the Oktyabrskaya Railway, specialists of Lengiprotrans were sent to the site to solve the emergency situation. Together with the trackmen, bridge builders and builders, technical solutions were issued directly at the site, which made it possible to restore through train traffic on the site within three days. So it turns out that you can always find a common language. 

— Is there a desire among young people to become designers?
— Every year, 30–40 students come to us for practice from specialized universities, mainly students of the St. Petersburg State University of Railways of the Emperor Alexander I (PGUPS). The teaching staff and the diploma commission of PGUPS include employees of Lengiprotrans, so already at the stage of training and passing the diploma for practice, promising students are selected. As a result, the most competent and most clearly manifested specialists are offered a job at the institute. Therefore, PGUPS is a kind of a forge of personnel for Lengiprotrans, but it is important to work with students constantly. Today, the average age of the institute's employees is 40 years, which does not allow us to say that only old personnel work here. Therefore, young people come, because now the main trend in design is information modeling and digital technologies, which are close to them.

Modern young designers, as a rule, master computer technologies faster and adapt to new software complexes that allow you to speed up the design process. But when non-standard situations arise, the older generation makes the right decisions faster. I have already talked about the importance of experience in design. This is exactly the case.

— What promising technologies are being developed by the institute's specialists and how do you see the designer of the near future?
— Specialists today are mastering a new design paradigm, changing their approach to work, mastering various software for information modeling. Given the complexity of the institute, this is not an easy task.

Therefore, the designer of the future is not only an expert in engineering and regulatory documentation in his field, but also a person who necessarily has extensive knowledge in the field of the latest technologies. They facilitate and speed up its work, which directly influents the effectiveness of projects.

Interviewed by Peter Kamenev, Gudok
Photo from the archive of Lengiprotrans

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