The Department Of Transport Systems And Road And Bridge Construction Participates In An International Young Engineers Colloquium In China

From 29 to 31 October, Tongji University (Shanghai, PRC)—one of the world’s top-tier engineering universities—hosted the 6th Regional Colloquium for Young Engineers, organized by the Chinese National Group of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE). Over a hundred young researchers from various countries presented their findings. The academic program was complemented by an engineering design competition for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge across the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, which featured 13 teams from six different countries.

Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering was represented in the competition by faculty members and students from the Department of Transport Systems and Road and Bridge Construction (TS&RBC): Associate Professor and PhD of Engineering Sciences Nikolay Kozak; first-year PhD students Oleg Zorochkin, Ilya Gumanyuk, and Olga Mikhailova (who also serves as an assistant at the department). The team was rounded out by SPbGASU alumnus Igor Rudakov, currently a PhD student at the Emperor Alexander I St Petersburg State Transport University. While the PhD students participated in the colloquium online, Nikolay Kozak—who is currently a visiting researcher at Tongji University—took part in person.

The department team has developed a design for a 120-meter-span glued-laminated timber arch bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. The project was inspired by a concept from Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, a prominent Russian mechanic of the late 18th century.

By 1772, Kulibin had developed several designs for a 298-meter single-arch bridge across the Neva River, featuring wooden lattice trusses. In 1776, he constructed a 1:10 scale model of this single-span wooden arch bridge and subjected it to testing. Although the project was never realized, the concept was ahead of its time and has gone down in history.

The project by the Russian team, presented at the competition, combines a commitment to a homegrown historical engineering tradition with contemporary architectural expressiveness and the use of an environmentally friendly structural material—glued laminated timber.

The project by the SPbGASU team received high praise from an international jury—comprising leading researchers and engineers from various countries—for its innovative approach to the use of glued laminated timber and its successful interpretation of an engineering concept originally developed by I. P. Kulibin.

The university was represented in Shanghai by more than just a competition entry. Anton Syrkov and Nikolay Kozak, associate professors at the Department of TS&RBC, served on the event’s organizing committee alongside international colleagues. Furthermore, Nikolay Kozak acted as a member of the expert jury and chaired one of the scientific sessions, which focused on structural modeling and floating systems.

Participation in the colloquium provided the SPbGASU delegation with an opportunity to exchange experience with international colleagues and outline prospects for future cooperation.