M-12 Highway Phase 1 is Open for Traffic

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives start to traffic on M-12 Phase 1

Stroytransgaz Group completed 48 km out of 80 km M-12 highway ahead of schedule. Official opening of the section for traffic was held on December 13. The opening ceremony was attended by Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Lebedev, General Director of Stroytransgaz Group, and Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of SC Russian Highways Management Board.

Stroytransgaz Group built 48 km of the new highway in record time — less than two years. The traffic was opened from the junction with M-7 Volga highway at the new traffic interchange in Petushinsky District to the junction with M-7 Volga. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony by videoconference, where he ordered: “Start traffic”.

Dmitry Lebedev — General Director of Stroytransgaz Group, Vyacheslav Petushenko — Chairman of SC Russian Highways Management Board, Marat Khusnullin — Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, and Alexander Avdeev — the Governor of Vladimir Region

At the ceremony for opening sections of the new highway for traffic, Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Prime Minister, suggested giving the name “Russia” for the transnational route from St Petersburg to Vladivostok, while this section would be named “Vostok”. He pointed out that these variants prevailed during voting. Vladimir Putin endorsed the initiative.

Phase 1 highway entry section includes 13 engineering structures, those are 9 bridges and crossovers, 3 cattle routes and 1 pedestrian subway. The main run of the road has 4 lanes, per 2 in each direction. Asphalt pavement is laid in three layers, 28 cm thick in total. Over 7 thousand tons of the mixture were laid on the site daily, which in total amounts to more than 770 thousand tons.

In order to ensure timely delivery of this enormous amount of materials to the construction sites, 4 asphalt plants were built close to the highway. Each plant produces 160 to 240 tons of the mix per hour. Each plant includes testing laboratories for monitoring the quality of asphalt mix, as well as comprehensive survey of all materials and work progress.

Stroytransgaz Group employees at traffic opening ceremony

The first layer paved, the top course of the basecoat, is 14 cm thick. For paving, SP 32-E asphalt mix was 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 the Moscow and Vladimir Regions.

The second layer, the bottom course, is 9 cm thick. This layer was paved using SP 22-E asphalt mix, which is also designed for extreme loads and offers a high level of quality.

For the third layer, surface course, which is 5 cm thick, stone matrix asphalt mix was used. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is adapted to the road’s actual transport and operational characteristics and to climatic conditions of the work site. This mixture has resistance to rutting and increased crack resistance.

Entry section is properly prepared and equipped. For road safety, 92.5 km of barrier and centerline fencing were installed, and 2,700 lighting poles were erected and hooked up. The new markings are made of thermoplastic materials and are highly retroreflective and wear-resistant. Its main feature is the structural and profiled surface. If a driver crosses the markings, he or she will be alerted on leaving his or her lane with vibrations.

In addition, 514 road signs were installed. For the comfort of residents near whose communities Phase 1 highway runs, the noise barriers were installed.

Comprehensive rearrangement of utilities was carried out. Rainwater inlets, storm drains and culverts were provided. Communication and Russian Railways lines, as well as gas pipelines were completed within the area of entry section influence.

Overall completion of Phase 1 is 75%. 64.9 km out of 80 km of the basecoat top course is ready, the bottom course – 57.8 km and the surface course – 53.2 km. Completion of the facility is scheduled for 2023.
Over 3,000 personnel and around 750 units of machinery were engaged in operations on a daily basis.