Asphalt Placement Started at Phase 1 of M-12 Highway Construction Project

Construction of the M-12 Moscow-Kazan-Ekaterinburg highway is one of the priority projects for the development of the national transport infrastructure. Construction Phase 1, which is taking place in Moscow and Vladimir Regions, is carried out by Stroytransgaz Group. On April 25, this year’s first asphalt paving operations started at the section after the end of winter.

Installation of asphalt pavement at Phase 1 began near the village of Staroye Annino. The road builders placed 1,580 tons of asphalt mix in one day. With production ramping up, it is expected to place 4,000 tons per day.

Over 2022, it is expected to place about 640,000 tons of asphalt mix during Phase 1. At this point, the 14cm-thick top layer of base course is being laid. This is one of the three layers that will be installed on the highway. For paving, SP 32-E asphalt mix is used, which is suitable for roads with heavy traffic and designed for extreme loads. It contains a unique binder designed specifically for climate conditions in Moscow and Vladimir Regions.

The length of M-12 construction Phase 1 is 80 km. It is planned to complete about 65 km of the top layer of base course before the end of the year. On top of it, the bottom layer of surface course will be installed. It is planned to start installing this layer in May, over 2022 some 43 km will be covered and 210,000 tons of mix placed. The bottom layer of surface course will be 9cm thick.

It is planned to start constructing the third (top) layer of surface course in July. According to the production plan, 50,000 tons will be laid on a length of 15km. The layer will be 5cm thick.

Phase 1 of highway construction will include building 29 crossing structures, including 23 bridges and overpasses. Once superstructures and approach structures are installed, they will also be asphalted. On the first crossing structures this is tentatively expected to begin in quarter 3 this year.

At Phase 1 of M-12 federal expressway, 2 asphalt concrete plants (ACPs) will be put into operation at the construction bases "Pokrov" and "Vasilyevka". Overall, there will be 4 ACPs with a total capacity of 500 tons operating at Phase 1 of M-12. The third plant is scheduled to start operating after the May holiday season.

Asphalt pavement is installed using the Superpave technology. Superpave is a method of formulating asphalt mixes for road pavements with improved performance. As a result of using this method, it is possible to build a pavement that will be resistant to rutting, multiple cracking from low temperature and degradation from fatigue factors. Advantage is achieved by accurate selection of the bitumen binder as per specially designed performance grade (PG Grade) based on the binder’s deformation properties and anticipated range of temperatures for a given application. This approach allows maximizing the road life and reducing the use of unnecessary materials.

At this point, 80 people and 44 units of machinery are assigned to the project, including asphalt pavers, road rollers, bitumen spreaders (to distribute primer and pour emulsion), shuttle buggies (to transfer mixed material from dump trucks), skid-steer loaders, dump trucks, etc. During the peak season, it is planned to use 150 people and 70 units of equipment for asphalt paving operations.

Phase 1 of the M-12 Highway project will include 80 km of road construction from the intersection with A-108 Moscow Big Ring Federal Highway to the intersection with M-7 Volga Federal Highway. M-12 will be a Category 1 road with 4 lanes, 2 in each direction. The Project Owner is the Russian Highways State Company. General Contractor is Stroytransgaz Group. The designer is GORKA Group.

Construction of new roads and maintenance of existing ones stays high on the list of priorities for the federal centre. In 2022, an additional amount of ₽120bn has been allocated for this from the reserve funds of the Cabinet of Ministers. The order to this effect was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

₽34bn out of the allocated budget will be spent on construction, reconstruction and overhaul of federal highways. This portion of funds will help to speed up renovation projects on the roads that form the international route from Europe to Western China and the domestic route from Kazan to Yekaterinburg, as well as upgrade road sections connecting the cities of the Golden Ring.

The new M-12 toll highway which will connect Moscow with Kazan will be built without any delays due to sanctions on the Russian Federation. When asked about whether the sanctions would have an impact on the timing and progress of the construction project, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin said: “No, they won’t.” The new highway is planned to be built and opened to motorists in 2024.