Ensuring high-quality performance of the required scope of works by road-building machines in the Arctic zone

Abstract

Today, the development of the Arctic regions is one of the priority tasks for Russia. However, it is impossible without a developed road network where road network density is one of the territory development drivers. If we consider this indicator on a country scale, we will see that only about 50% of all hard-surface roads are paved. In the Arctic regions, this indicator is 14% on average, which is the lowest value in the country. Therefore, it is important to ensure the construction, reconstruction, repair, and maintenance of roads in the Arctic not only today but also in the future. Our goal was to identify the reasons behind the decrease in the performance efficiency of road-building machines in the Arctic zone under the existing operation strategies. We also aimed to substantiate and propose a fundamentally new conceptual approach to the production operation of road-building machines in the Arctic.Based on the new concept, when solving issues related to the operation of road-building machines, it is necessary to proceed not from the machine itself but from the scope of works that needs to be done. In fact, the works performed are the intended purpose of the machines under consideration. Using this approach, we can conduct a full-fledged study of the performance of machines used for the construction, reconstruction, repair, and maintenance of roads, including in the Arctic zone.The obtained results can be effectively applied when planning the scope of works as well as when operating road-building machines in the Arctic. The paper poses scientific and practical interest for those maintaining various stages of the road-building machinery life cycle.