From 21 to 23 April, SPbGASU Faculty of Civil Engineering held the III National (All-Russian) Scientific and Technical Conference “Prospects of Modern Construction”.

The welcoming part of the plenary session opened with the showing of two videos, the first of which introduced the conference participants to our university. The other video was prepared by the creative team of the Faculty of Civil Engineering for the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and told about how the university lived during the difficult years of the Leningrad blockade.

The moderator, Deputy Dean for Research, Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural and Engineering Constructions Olga Pastukh addressed the participants of the plenary session. Olga Aleksandrovna introduced the members of the conference organizing committee and invited them to visit the exhibition dedicated to safety in the construction industry that opened as part of the conference.

On behalf of the SPbGASU Rector Evgeny Rybnov, the participants were greeted by the Vice-Rector for Research Evgeny Korolev. Evgeny Valerievich noted that the conference could become a driver for the development of the national project "Infrastructure for Life". The project, aimed at improving the comfort of housing, ensuring the safety of the urban environment, requires new and sound scientific solutions that will be implemented in practice.

The Vice-Rector also emphasized the successes of the SPbGASU Faculty of Civil Engineering team. Thus, on 16 April, by decree of the President of Russia, Rashid Mangushev, Professor at the Department of Geotechnics, was awarded the title of "Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation". Separate words of greeting were addressed to young researchers, whose presence in the hall, according to the Vice-Rector, was the key to the sustainability of science and the university. In conclusion, Evgeny Valerievich wished everyone fruitful work and constructive discussions.

Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Andrey Nikulin spoke about the activities of our university. Andrey Nikolaevich also introduced the faculty he heads, informed about its departments, laboratories, and partners.

At the plenary session, the round table “Fire-safe construction – in the hands of youth” and six sections, scientists and specialists in the construction industry informed about new promising research results, exchanged experiences and ideas, and expanded their professional contacts.

The Chairman of the Metal and Timber Structures section, Head of the Department of Metal and Timber Constructions, Egor Danilov, spoke about the work of the section: “The section, which worked for three days, brought together more than 300 participants, about 90 authors of reports. Among the participants were representatives of three construction companies, specialists from universities from Vologda, Yoshkar-Ola, Novocherkassk and other Russian cities, three foreign guests (Kazakhstan, China). The current problems of ensuring the spatial rigidity of modern multi-story wooden buildings, technical aspects of improving the standards of metal structures were discussed, new methods for calculating joints were proposed. All days of the conference were eventful. The exchange of experience was extremely useful for both the students-listeners and the respected scientists-speakers.”

Associate Professor at the Department of Technosphere Safety Olga Gorbunova was the Deputy Chairperson of the Occupational Safety in Construction section at the conference. According to her, the section was held in two stages: on the first day, representatives of professional communities in the field of occupational safety and teachers from universities in our country presented scientific reports, and on the second day, students did so. The topics of the reports touched upon current issues of ensuring human safety in the modern world, and issues of ensuring occupational safety in the construction industry. Olga Vladimirovna named some of the topics of student researches: "The effects of man-made accidents using fuel oil on the state of the environment"; "Use of vacuum waste removal systems for collecting hazardous medical waste"; "On a unified system of cadastral control and fire safety".

Mikhail Zhavoronkov, Deputy Chairman and Associate Professor at the Department of Technology of Construction Materials and Metrology, reported on what was happening in the section on technology of building materials and metrology: “15 reports were announced. The work was held in a mixed mode: some reports were presented in person, and some - remotely. The speakers were teachers, postgraduates and master's students of the Department of TCM&M at SPbGASU and other universities, representatives of organizations carrying out scientific and practical activities in the areas of work of the section. The reports were devoted to the study of the properties of concrete made using various fillers, various binders and using special additives; issues of formation of micro- and macrostructure of these concretes; development of a quality management system in construction, shortcomings of modern regulatory documentation and ways to overcome them. Of great interest were the works describing the properties of dispersion-reinforced concrete and dedicated to counteracting the explosive destruction of concrete during heating.”

The reports at the section of the Department of Construction Mechanics raised issues of modeling geotechnical structures and earthquake-resistant construction.

The section of the Departments of Construction Management and Construction Technology started with the reports of the Heads of departments Roman Motylev and Anton Gaido, who spoke about the main areas of their scientific work. Particular attention was drawn to the reports "Formation of a resource-saving complex of machines for the construction of a roadbed by hydromechanization" by Vladimir Vanzha (Associate Professor of the Kuban State Agrarian University), "Application of modular heat-protective panels to ensure the reliability of installation of steel structures in the conditions of the Far North" by Milana Raslambekova (master's student of St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) and others. The participants of the scientific section noted the breadth of topics of the reports and the relevance of the choice of research topics by master's and postgraduate students of the departments.

Representatives of various Russian universities took part in the work of the section of the Department of Architectural and Engineering Constructions. The reports of Irina Chernyshkova (Associate Professor of the South-Russian Polytechnic University) on the topic of "Acoustic features of atrium spaces" and Nikolay Cherepanov (Student of the St Petersburg State Transport University) on ​​the topic of "Requirements for architectural structures of a building for the integration of unmanned delivery into an urban environment" aroused particular interest among the audience and a lively professional discussion.

The students also presented reports on modular technologies, recycled materials and structures, the features of thermal insulation materials for various building structures and unique construction in the Arctic zone.

In addition to the engineering and technical aspects of construction, there were reports on the renovation of industrial heritage from the point of view of architectural and urban planning, innovation, environmental and socio-economic aspects. Olga Pastukh and Qu Rulan (PhD of Architecture, Senior Lecturer at Zhengzhou University, China) analyzed both the experience of historical Russian cities and the influence of Soviet urban planning ideas on the growth and development of industrial cities in China in the mid-20th century, as well as their current state. Their report was prepared based on the results of a joint research project, "The influence of Soviet urban planning concepts and ideas on the formation and development of industrial cities in China in the mid-20th century."