Mikhail Mishustin Inspected the Construction Sites of the M-12 Highway

The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation paid a working visit to the Vladimir Region. As part of the visit, Mikhail Mishustin inspected the M-12 construction sites from a helicopter. Aleksandr Avdeev, Acting Governor of the Vladimir Region, and Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of the Management Board of Avtodor, took to the air together with the Head of the Government.

At the end of the flight, the Prime Minister said: “We flew around the completed section of the highway together. I’d like to say that the highway, when ready, will allow us to drive more than 2,000 km from St. Petersburg to Ekaterinburg without a single traffic light.” He noted that the highway would pass through a number of regions. “It’s impressive. A most serious infrastructural project,” said the Prime Minister.

The M-12 highway will provide for high-speed motor service between the largest centres of economic growth in the Central, Volga, and Ural Federal Districts and improve the safety and quality of motor road traffic in the regions. Besides, the high-speed route will ensure a stable annual increase in GRP of the regions where the highway will pass, by lifting infrastructural restrictions and materialising the economic potential of individual cities and agglomerations.

The M-12 construction also contributes to the development of the West–East transport corridor. Three highway construction phases pass through the territory of the Vladimir Region.

Stroytransgaz Group is carrying out the construction of Phase 1 of the M-12 Highway. Phase 1 has a length of 80 km and passes through the territory of the Moscow and Vladimir Regions.

Active work is underway on the main course of the road. The so-called “road cake” is being laid in layers throughout the highway. 54 km of roadbed, 45 km of sandy bed, and 42.7 km of crushed stone sand layer have been completed up to their design elevations. The most interesting layers are asphalt concrete layers laid on top.

At Phase 1 of the M-12 highway construction, 3 layers of asphalt concrete pavement will be laid. The top layer of the base is ready for 35.8 km out of 80 km. It is 14 cm thick. The SP 32-E asphalt concrete mixture is used to build that layer. It is suitable for roads with heavy traffic and designed for extreme loads. It contains a unique binder designed specifically for climate conditions in the Moscow and Vladimir Regions.

In June, the construction of the lower layer of asphalt concrete pavement was started. The road builders laid 9.3 km for less than a month. In 2022, about 43 km will be completed. The lower layer thickness will be 9 cm. It is planned to start laying the third, upper layer in Q3 this year. Its thickness will be 5 cm.

To ensure uninterrupted laying of the asphalt concrete mixture, 4 asphalt concrete plants were built at Phase 1 of the M-12 highway construction. Each of them has its own quality laboratory, which carries out comprehensive examinations of the incoming material and pays special attention to the final product quality. The total capacity of the plants is about 600 tons of mixture per hour.

At Phase 1 of the M-12 highway construction, 29 artificial structures will be built. Work is underway on each of them. 24 bridges and overpasses, 3 livestock passes, and 2 pedestrian underpasses will be built.

Installation of foundation bases for all crossing structures of the current phase will be completed in Q4 2022. To date, pile foundations for 21 crossing structures are already in place. Reinforcement and concreting of supports is fully completed for 11 artificial structures. Installation of span beams has been completed for 8 crossing structures. At 8 crossing structures, monolithic reinforced concrete structures of spans are being built.

Concrete work has been completed at all cattle passes. Currently, reinforced concrete structures are being waterproofed, with the subsequent installation of protective concrete layer. At the first pedestrian crossing (PC 142), monolithic base slab for reinforced concrete structures is being prepared (channel, walls, floors, and wing walls). At the second pedestrian crossing (PC 328), monolithic reinforced concrete structures have been installed, the interior finishing of monolithic structures has begun, and the walkway is being prepared for arrangement.

Over 2 000 personnel and around 500 units of machinery are engaged in operations on a daily basis.