Megacities go underground
The events of recent days have shown that the world will no longer be the same after the coronavirus pandemic.
A lot of things will change, including our cities. Perhaps other approaches to the development of urban spaces, including underground ones, will be developed. The task for urban planners is to plan underground spaces comfortably and safely, without compromising the ground environment. This was discussed by experts at a webinar on geotechnics in preparation for the 100+ ForumRussia.
The online conference was attended by Vyacheslav Ilyichev, President of the Russian Society for Soil Mechanics, Geotechnics and Foundation Engineering (ROMGGiF), Alexey Shashkin, General Director of Georeconstruction, as well as experts from the N.M. Gersevanov National Research Research Center, Igor Kolybin, Director, Oleg Shulyatyev, Deputy Director for Scientific Work, Andrey Shaposhnikov, Deputy Head of the laboratory.
Experts agreed that the use of the underground part for the construction of infrastructure facilities will reduce the traffic load on city streets and they will be free for pedestrians. Special attention should be paid to the development of urban planning documentation in three-dimensional coordinates. According to Andrey Shaposhnikov, Deputy head of the laboratory of the N.M. Gersevanov Research Institute of Scientific and Technical Center Stroitelstvo, then existing buildings at the top will not have to be demolished during the construction of new underground structures. For example, the expert notes, when laying the Lefortovo automobile tunnel in Moscow, it was necessary to partially dismantle one historical building and strengthen the underground and above-ground parts of another structure. The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow is a unique example of the development of underground space without destroying a historical structure. Six levels have been built under the building, and the theater's underground space is more than 20 meters deep.
Experts consider one of the main tasks to be the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional plans (in width, height and depth) at the initial stage of drawing up master plans for cities. "For the development of the underground space, a transition to a 3d master plan and a 3d cadastre is still necessary. Otherwise, it will all remain a conversation. Today, this is a "flat" cadastre and there is no downward measurement," explained Alexey Shashkin, CEO of Georeconstruction.
The 100+ forum has repeatedly discussed the need to switch to three-dimensional design, suggesting not waiting for the relevant regulatory documents to appear, but already calculating the development of underground space in urban planning. NIIOSP named after N.M. Gersevanov JSC "SIC "Construction" has developed a set of rules "Urban planning. Planning and construction of underground space", the document can become the basis for the creation of urban planning documentation in three-dimensional format.
The development of underground space is relevant not only in megacities, but in any urban planning design even at the stage of planning the development of the territory. Vyacheslav Ilyichev, President of ROMGGiF, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for Innovation, notes that the development of underground space helps to significantly improve the life of the city: "Urban planners receive additional territory in the center, while preserving the historical urban environment and architectural monuments. These underground areas can be used to create recreational, public, commercial and even office spaces." However, the expert believes that design errors can be critical: it will be difficult to complete and expand the underground infrastructure, often such changes entail not only the destruction of aboveground structures in this area, but also significant financial costs. "Modern technologies make it possible to build any facilities in any territory, the question is how much it will cost and how seriously it will affect existing buildings," added Igor Kolybin, Director of the N.M. Gersevanov National Research Research Institute of Construction, JSC.
The webinar also examined the construction of foundations of high-rise buildings on various soils. Note that on 100+ Forumrussia, geotechnical issues are on the list of the most in-demand. Every year, the business program includes sections on engineering surveys in the construction of high-rise buildings and the development of underground space, joint conferences of designers and prospectors, and other events for geotechnicians. "We compare the calculation results with the monitoring results of two high-altitude MFCs located on Jurassic clays. For five years, we have been observing precipitation. I invite everyone who has not yet participated in these calculations to join us at the forum in October," added the permanent speaker of the forum, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the N.M. Gersevanov National Research Research Institute of ConstructionOleg Shulyatyev.
100+ will continue a series of free webinars on current construction industry topics during and after the quarantine. The recordings of the webinar are available on the forum website. http://www.forum-100.ru/novosti/100-vebinar-po-geotehnike /